ASCARIS SIMPLEX. 



125 



Dujardin's description { = A. Dussumierii) be still retains niider the name "A. 

 simpler.^' In a later pnblication Cobbold (188G, pp. 176, 177) mentions some ascarides 

 wliicli Charles Darwin collected "from stomach of a porpoise off the island of Chiloe, 

 January, 1835.'' There were thirteen specimens, mostly females, the longest of which 

 did not exceed 3 inches. These Cobbold determined as "A. simplex,^^ 

 again stating that A. delpliini fonnd by Lebeck belonged to the same 

 species; this view he "confirmed from an examination of nematodes 

 pi'ocnred from a Platanista gangetica by Dr. John Anderson," and he 

 thinks "it i)robable that the Ascaris found by Krefft and Masters in 

 a dolphin captured in Port Jackson is of the same species. If so, the 

 worm occurs in JDelphinus phocaena, in D. Forsteri, and in Platanista gangetica, and 

 probably in the dolphins generally. * * * The ova from Mr. Darwin's specimens 

 are nearly spherical, furnished with thin, transparent chorional envelopes. They give 

 an average diameter of sio of an inch from pole to pole. M. Dujardin, whose descrip- 

 tion of the species is the best on record, 

 found the eggs to be a trifle longer." In 

 his bibliography of this worm Cobbold 

 does not cite Krabbe's paper. 



It is evident from Cobbold's discus- 

 sion that at no time had he any clear 

 idea of the worms he was attempting to 

 describe; and all of his statements con- 

 cerning them should be either preceded 

 with a prominent mark of interrogation 

 or rejected in toto. 



Leidy (1886, p. 311) next recorded 

 ^^ Ascaris simplex Eudol]>hi from the stom- 

 ach of a dolphin, Lagenorliynclmsf Pacific 

 ocean," but as we show on page 134 of this report, his specimens belong to Ascaris 

 typica. 



Von Linstow (1888, pp. 2, 3) appears to be the next zoologist to examine A. 

 simplex. He records it "from the stomach of Otaria juhata, January 27, 1874, 

 Kergueleu Island," collected by the Challenger expedition. Thirteen specimens (fig. 25) 

 were taken, the largest measuring 79"'™ long and 2.2""" 

 broad. The dorsal lip (fig. 26) is described as semicircular, 

 with an anterior i^rotrusion ; the pulp sends two cylindrical 

 protrusions into the latter, and these are rounded off" ante- 

 riorly; the anterior end bears a dentigerous ridge with 

 pointed teeth; accessory lips wanting; dorsal lip (fig. 27) 

 (0.12""" broad) smaller than ventrolateral lips (0.30"""). The 

 cuticle exhibits cuticular bands 23 // broad, with finer striae 

 about eight times as narrow; lateral lines 0.23""" broad, 

 dorsal and ventral lines 35 jj. The male measures 37 by 0.9""" ; its tail is provided 

 with four [pairsj of conical papillae on extremity, two or three others of round form 

 "just in front of the cloaca," at each side of these six other shortly stalked papillae, 

 and again in front an inconstant row of fifty or more; cirri long (1.68""") with saber- 

 shaped curvature. The female attains 79""" in length by 2.2™"' in breadth; anus 



Fig. 26. 



Fig. 27. 



