160 DR. F. E. BEDDARD ON 



state of affairs which is represented in text-fig. 34. It will be 

 there seen that the uterus gives off a slight diverticulum towards 

 the exterior of the body which is visible for at most three con- 

 secutive sections. This outgrowth, however, does not reach the 

 exterior, for it is plugged with cortical tissue. But one can 

 readily see in the sections, of which the drawings referred to 

 are copies, that a denser fi.brous layer surrounding the uterus is 

 prolonged towards the exterior, in the same fashion as, but 

 further than, the uterine cavity. This peculiarity seems to me 

 to be explicable on the hypothesis that we have here either 

 a vestige of, or the beginning of, separate uterine pores such 

 as exist in the undoubtedly closely allied, if not identical, genus 

 Ophidotcenia. I am, however, convinced that there are not in 

 the present species any actual pores. 



The viterus in the ripest proglottids is very full of eggs which 

 have a narrower and thicker outer shell and a wider and thinner 

 inner shell. There are no external processes such as Schwarz has 

 figured in Ichthyotcenia naitereri *. The eggs are not in any way 

 massed into balls such as occurs in the allied genus Acantho- 

 tcenia f ; they lie, as it were, anyhow, but with some granular 

 material between them. This tends to aggregate them into a 

 continuous mass. 



I believe this species to be different from any that have 

 been described. Its general size and the size of the scolex are 

 perhaps nearest to those of " Taenia " racemosa, as described by 

 Schwarz. But the material belonging to this latter species, which 

 was examined by Schwarz, was not in a satisfactory state of 

 preservation. And, moreover, Ichthyotaenia racemosa seems to 

 frequent South American snakes, while that which forms the 

 subject of the present communication is African in range. More- 

 over, the cirrus is unlike that of my species in not being coiled 

 and only pursviing an undulating course through the cirrus-sac. 

 The testes in /. gahonica do not appear to be so large as those of 

 /. racemosa. Nor are the diverticula of the uterus so well mai'ked 

 as in /. racemosa. 



Ophidotaenia russelli, sp. n. 



Of this species an example was obtained from a Russell's Yiper 

 {Vipera russelli) in June 1911. The general appearance of the 

 worm is that of a typical Ichthyotcenia or Ophidotcenia, which 

 genera do not differ to the naked eye unless it be ultimately 

 proved that a small scolex characterises Ophidotaenia and a large, 

 or at any rate larger, scolex characterises Ichthyotcenia. The 

 worm was very active when alive, and the specimen when 

 extended was a foot or so in length. The scolex, as already 

 mentioned, is very small and not more than one-half of the 

 width of that of Ichthyotcenia gahonica just described. It is of 



* ioe. cit. Taf. iii. fig:. 7. 



t Beddavd, P. Z. S, 1913, text-tig^i. 6, 7, p. 20, 



