SPIROPTERA HOMINIS. 407 



scopical Journal " (new series, vol. ii., p. 302; 1862). As the 

 paper in question is highly instructive, I quote the greater part of 

 it from the English version : " Specimens (of the Spiroptera Jiomi- 

 nis) having been forwarded by Mr. Barnet to Rudolphi, are still 

 preserved in his collection now in the Zoological Museum at Ber- 

 lin, and it is these specimens which have formed the subject of 

 Dr. Schneider's observations. They are contained, as described by 

 Rudolphi, in three bottles. When Dr. Schneider first looked at 

 those contained in one of the bottles, they appeared to be well- 

 known forms, and nothing more, in fact, than the very common 

 Filaria piscium of authors ; a name under which several species of 

 asexual nematoid have been described, which are found in the 

 abdominal cavity and among the muscles of several marine fishes. 

 The specimens in this bottle were the commonest of all, as was 

 proved by a number of the most distinctive characters. The mouth 

 is surrounded by three indistinct labial lobes, one of which supports 

 a tooth. The vascular system is very peculiar, and presents a 

 disposition met with in but few nematoid worms, the oesophagus 

 having posteriorly a coecal prolongation. Wot in this point only, 

 however, but also in the histological details to which the compari- 

 son was extended, did Filaria piscium agree with the supposed 

 Spiroptera hominis . ' ' 



" But the worm is said to have come directly from the urethra, 

 that is to say, from the bladder. How did it get there ? It is 

 impossible that a nematoid, whose proper habitat is the body of a 

 fish, should, even in an exceptional case, inhabit the urinary blad- 

 der of a warm-blooded animal. Such a supposition is contrary to 

 all that we know of the developmental history of the Entozoa. It 

 is far more probable to suspect that the person had herself intro- 

 duced the worms into that situation. Instances of a similar kind 

 with various articles are common enough. The Filaria piscium 

 could be readily procured in London, and would be well known to 

 any one in the custom of eating fish. How well known and abun- 

 dant they are may be gathered from the circumstance, that in 



