48 I. IJIMA. 



Yamagata, acting-physicians in the hospital of Okayama. It appeared 

 in January 1883 under the title of M K H Hf 111 î?" x b ^ ^ ^ W. 

 ( " Observations on Distomœ of the lung and liver " ). This pamphlet 

 contains a series of observations on numerous cases of the Distoma- 

 disease, which are no douht of great importance to physicians, together 

 ■with a short anatomical account of the liver-distome. — In " Bevlimr 

 Klinische Wochenschrift,'^ published on April 16th of the same year, 

 Prof. Baelz gives some accounts of Japanese human -parasites f" TJeber 

 einige neue Parasiten des Menschen "j. Of liver-distomes he describes 

 two new species, viz., Di^toma hepatis endemicum s. perniciosum and 

 Distoma hepatis innocuum. To me it is exceedingly doubtful whether 

 these are to be regarded as really distinct species. At any rate it is 

 certain that the species which I myself examined is identical with Dist. 

 endemicum. The two species described by Baelz are very closely 

 allied to Distoma spathulatum Leuckart ( = Dist. Sinense Cobbold). 

 The latter parasite, as described and figured by McConell*, is by no 

 means satisfactorily known, and I should not be surprised if further 

 investigations should show its identity with either or both of Baelz's 

 species. Kiyono &c,, as well as Baelz, mention the absence of seminal 

 receptacle in the Japanese liver-distome as a chief point of difference 

 between it and Dist. spathulatum ; but I believe this is a mistake, for I 

 have seen a distinct seminal receptacle in Dist. endemicum. — I remember 

 that a few years ago Prof. Leuckart of Leipsic was engaged in the 

 study of human Distomes from Japan. The publication of his results 

 may bring the above mentioned identity or non-identity of the several 

 species to a definite settlement. 



I wish here to express my thanks to the medical staff of Oka- 

 yama-hospital, especially to Messrs. Yamagata and IMatsuwo, for giv- 

 ing me every facility in collecting information. The last named 



* Lancet, 1875. 



