1000 ME. R. J. ORTLEPP ON THE 



Molin's monograph contains the descriptions of 22 species, of 

 which 9 are new and 4 — Ph. colubri (Rud., 1918), Dies., 1851, 

 Ph. Iwibata Leidy, 1856, Ph. abjecta Leidy, 1856, and Ph. spirula 

 Henipr. & Ehren., 1828 — are listed under Species Inquirendse. 

 In his introduction to this work he eliminates the four species 

 Ph. strongylina Rud., Ph. mucronata Dies., Ph. saginata Rud., 

 and Ph. tenuicolUs Rud. from the genus, stating that Ph. mu- 

 cronata and Ph. tenuicolUs are Ascarids, Ph. saginata a 

 Spiroptera, and that Ph. strongylina belongs to a new genus. He 

 places Ph. megalostoma Crep., 1829, as a synonym of Ph. alata 

 Rud. 



Schneider, in his ' Monographic der Nematoden' (1866), de- 

 scribes 9 species of Physaloptera, of which 4 are new, namely 

 Ph. digitata, Ph. subalata, Ph. trancata, and Ph. spiralis. Prior 

 to his publication, a,iK! after the appearance of Molin's monograpli, 

 the only other new Physaloptera described is Ph. imcris-brasili- 

 ensis Diesing, 1861, from Mtcs brasiliensis. 



In 1883, von Drasche amplified Molin's monograph by pub- 

 lishing a revision of the Molin and Diesing types deposited in 

 the Yienna Museum ; his work is of considerable value, as he 

 paid special attention to the structure of the lips and caudal 

 extremity of the males, and also gave figures of them all. He 

 confirmed Molin's diagnosis that Ph. mtLcronata Dies., 1851, is 

 an Ascarid. 



Yon Linstow, in his 'Compendium der Helminthologie' 

 (1878) and in his " Nachtrag " (1889) to this work, records 40 

 species — ^31 in the first work and 9 additional ones in the latter. 



The next landmark was the appearance of Stossich's monograph 

 on the genus in 1889. He here gave the description of 37 species, 

 26 of which he considered valid, and the rest he listed under 

 Species Inquirendse. Those species referred to in this work and 

 not in Molin's are as follows: — 1 species — Ph. torquata, of 

 Leidy, 1886; 5 species of von Linstow — Ph. crassa, 1879, Ph. 

 dentata, 1883, Ph. malleus, 1883, Ph. st?'iata, 1883, and P/i. pyra- 

 Tiiidalis, 1879 ; 4 species — Ph. digitata, Ph. sjnralis, Ph. subalata, 

 and Ph. truncata, described by Schneider in 1886 ; and 1 species 

 of Diesing — Ph. mtiris-brasiliensis, 1861 , Of Stossich's 37 species, 

 11 are recorded from reptiles, 11 from birds, and 15 from 

 mammals. 



In 1911, Gedoelst published his 'Synopsis de Parasitologic,' in 

 which he listed 5 species, viz, 2 from man, 1 from carnivores, 

 and 2 from birds. 



Hall (1916) gives the descriptions of 7 species, viz. 1 from 

 Hyracoidea, 5 from rodents, and 1, Ph abbreviata, which is a 

 reptilian parasite, but had been recorded from Graphiurus murinus 

 by Pa,rona (1909). Hall doubts Parona's diagnosis, and I agree 

 with him that the presence of this parasite in a rodent is vejy 

 suggestive of an error in its identification. 



Up to the present day the number of species has been con- 

 siderably increased, thanks principallj to von Linstow and 



