18B DR. T. S. COBBOLD OF A 



above the point of the tail. The Barrow csecal end of the upper 

 ovary passes into tlie superior third of the body, and usually 

 folds upou itself once or twice. The lower uterine horn, after 

 passing downwards to very near the anus, suddenly bends up- 

 ward, and terminates in a narrow ovarian ceecum, which occupies 

 a position corresponding with that of the tubal portion of the 

 superior uterine horn. The most striking feature, however, is 

 that which relates to the small number and comparatively large 

 size of the eggs. Eoughly, their separate measurement averages 

 _.|_ inch in length by ^^ inch in breadth. The more perfect 

 eggs contain incompletely formed embryos. As hitherto we have 

 been accustomed to find the Strougyles supporting a A'^ery large 

 number of ova, this paucity of eggs is, so far as my experience 

 goes, altogether peculiar. Amongst the free Nematodes one con- 

 stantly encounters females with only one, two, or several j)erfect 

 ova ; but I know of no Strongyle carrying so few as twenty to 

 thirty eggs ; yet that peculiarity obtains in this Strongyle from 

 the Ostrich. "When, recently, Dr. Orley, the Hungarian hel- 

 minthologist, visited this country, I had an opportunity of show- 

 ing him S. Bouglassii under the microscope. He at once re- 

 cognized the exceptional character of this phenomenon. 



Practical Considerations. — Some useful and interesting particulars are 

 related in the communication received from Mr. Douglass. The victi- 

 mized bird was 18 months old, being one of a flock. On opening it, the 

 worms, he says, " were all alive, although the flock had had salt with 

 their food daily for a month, and a week before one ounce of sulphur 

 each." My informant's surprise was not unnatural, seeing that agricul- 

 turists have long appreciated the value of salt and sulphur as a prophylactic 

 and parasiticide. Many years ago Professor Simonds conducted a simple 

 experiment, which showed that salines proved fatal to a worm infesting 

 the stomach of a lamb. He called the parasite Filaria hamata; but I 

 subsequently identified it with Strongylus contortus of Rudolphi. Mr. 

 Douglass says that he first discovered these Ostrich-Entozoa in December 

 1879, "when a flock of 200 Ostriches, running in a camp of 4000 acres^ 

 suddenly fell off in condition, and three died." He examined the dead 

 birds, and adds : — " I found the mucus of about half the paunch to have 

 acquired a fungus growth of an inch or more in length, under which the 

 paunch was red with millions of these worms. Shortly after, three more 

 of the flock were worried to death by dogs, and they were all affected [by 

 the parasite]. From the appearance of the others, I knew the whole to be 

 so ; and from reports of the mortality in birds from all parts of South 

 Africa, I believe the disease to be general." 



