﻿[11] 
  On 
  Mermis 
  acuminata. 
  123 
  

  

  white. 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  Prof. 
  Leidy, 
  of 
  Philadelphia 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  

   describes 
  several, 
  and 
  mentions 
  one 
  which 
  he 
  calls 
  the 
  white 
  

   hair-worm 
  (Mermis), 
  which 
  is 
  the 
  only 
  one 
  that 
  corresponds 
  

   with 
  the 
  specimen 
  I 
  have 
  reference 
  to. 
  

  

  Prof. 
  Riley 
  informs 
  me 
  that 
  subsequent 
  to 
  his 
  reference, 
  

   above 
  cited, 
  he 
  had 
  obtained 
  two 
  specimens 
  of 
  Mermis 
  from 
  

   Carpocapsa 
  larvae 
  found 
  in 
  fruit, 
  and 
  two 
  other 
  examples 
  

   from 
  larvae 
  taken 
  from 
  beneath 
  bandages 
  placed 
  around 
  the 
  

   trunks 
  of 
  apple 
  trees, 
  to 
  serve 
  as 
  a 
  place 
  of 
  retreat 
  for 
  the 
  larvse 
  

   during 
  their 
  transformations, 
  from 
  which 
  they 
  could 
  be 
  taken 
  

   and 
  destroyed. 
  He 
  had 
  also 
  taken 
  a 
  similar 
  specimen 
  from 
  

   the 
  posterior 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  brain 
  of 
  an 
  owl. 
  

  

  The 
  specimen 
  taken 
  by 
  Prof. 
  Riley 
  from 
  the 
  brain 
  of 
  the 
  

   owl 
  may 
  be 
  presumed 
  to 
  be 
  the 
  same 
  or 
  closely 
  allied 
  to 
  those 
  

   described 
  by 
  Prof. 
  Wyman,* 
  which 
  he 
  has 
  found 
  so 
  common, 
  

   in 
  the 
  brain 
  of 
  the 
  snake-bird 
  or 
  water-turkey, 
  in 
  Florida 
  (in 
  

   seventeen 
  out 
  of 
  nineteen 
  specimens 
  shot), 
  that 
  their 
  presence 
  

   might 
  be 
  presumed 
  to 
  be 
  the 
  normal 
  condition 
  of 
  the 
  bird. 
  

   Prof. 
  Wyman 
  finds 
  them 
  to 
  correspond 
  so 
  closely 
  to 
  the 
  

   Bustrongylus 
  papillosus 
  of 
  Diesing, 
  that 
  he 
  thought 
  x 
  they 
  

   might 
  prove 
  to 
  be 
  identical. 
  In 
  every 
  instance 
  they 
  were 
  

   coiled 
  up 
  on 
  the 
  back 
  of 
  the 
  cerebellum, 
  in 
  numbers 
  varying 
  

   from 
  two 
  to 
  eight. 
  Figures 
  of 
  them 
  are 
  given, 
  showing 
  the 
  

   male 
  and 
  female, 
  their 
  position 
  on 
  the 
  cerebellum, 
  enlarged 
  

   views 
  of 
  their 
  extremities, 
  and 
  the 
  development, 
  within 
  the 
  

   oviduct, 
  of 
  the 
  egg 
  to 
  the 
  free 
  young 
  embryo. 
  Nothing 
  is 
  

   known 
  of 
  their 
  transfer 
  from 
  the 
  oviduct, 
  through 
  some 
  other 
  

   animal 
  probably, 
  to 
  the 
  brain 
  of 
  another 
  bird. 
  

  

  In 
  a 
  subsequent 
  communication 
  to 
  the 
  American 
  Natural- 
  

   ist 
  (Yol. 
  VI, 
  p. 
  560), 
  Prof. 
  Wyman 
  presents 
  very 
  interesting 
  

   additional 
  observations 
  upon 
  these 
  parasites, 
  and, 
  upon 
  the 
  

   bird 
  in 
  which 
  they 
  have 
  their 
  habitat, 
  and 
  designates 
  them 
  as 
  

   Filaria 
  anhingce. 
  

  

  The 
  communication 
  of 
  Prof. 
  Leidy 
  to 
  the 
  Philadelphia 
  

   Academy, 
  to 
  which 
  reference 
  has 
  been 
  made, 
  in 
  which 
  he 
  

   describes 
  Mermis 
  acuminata, 
  is 
  reported 
  in 
  the 
  Proceedings 
  

   of 
  the 
  Academy 
  of 
  Natural 
  Science, 
  of 
  Philadelphia, 
  for 
  

   February, 
  1875, 
  as 
  follows 
  : 
  

  

  Professor 
  Leidy 
  remarked 
  that 
  Mr. 
  Thomas 
  Meehan 
  had 
  

   submitted 
  to 
  his 
  examination 
  some 
  worms 
  which 
  had 
  been 
  

  

  *Proceedings 
  of 
  the 
  Boston 
  Society 
  of 
  Natural 
  History> 
  October. 
  7*1868. 
  See, 
  also, 
  Ameri- 
  

   can 
  Naturalist, 
  vol. 
  Ill, 
  p. 
  41, 
  1870. 
  

  

  