550 REPORT OP COMMISSIONER OF PISH AND FISHERIES. 
opment there* How long a strobile would coutinue to live iu its proper 
habitat if the scolex were removed is an interesting though not very 
practical question. 
While the pseudoscolex appears to be principally an organ for adhe- 
sion and absorption, as well designed for the former function perhaps as 
for the latter, the true scolex, though no doubt necessary as an organ 
of adhesion iu very youug individuals, must be of little use for this 
purpose in the adult. 
In the mature segments the longitudinal system of muscles is reduced 
to a narrow and inconspicuous layer. 
Circular muscles. — The layer of circular fibers is at first clearly de- 
fined at the base of the pseudoscolex. Anterior to that point they 
either do not exist or are obscured by the numerous interlacing fibers of 
the cervical outgrowths. It constitutes a conspicuous layer in the an- 
terior part of the body. In the median regions of the body it consists 
of but a few fibers, and in those segments in which the genital organs 
are mature it has almost entirely disappeared, being there represented 
by a few fine fibers which, with the attenuated layer of longitudinal 
fibers, surround the inner core of the strobile. 
Subcuticular granulo -fibrous layer. — This^layer is first discernible at 
the base of the pseudoscolex. Anterior to that point the longitudinal 
layer lies next to the cuticular layer. It becomes one of the most promi- 
nent of the layers of the body a short distance back of the pseudoscolex. 
It consists of both longitudinal and radial fibers, and at its extreme 
outer edge there is a layer which appears to consist of fine circular 
fibers placed very close together, appearing as a thin structureless mem- 
brane in transverse sections, but presenting the appearance of a row 
of fine dots in longitudinal, marginal sections. It furnishes a place of 
insertion for the radial fibers and has been interpreted as the cutis, and 
so named in the figures and in the description of the cuticle. The sub- 
cuticular layer in the median region of the body occupies more than 
one-half«the area from surface to center of transverse sections. Its 
prominence in the mature segments is shown in figures 26, 27, 29, 30, 31. 
It furnishes the material from which the vitelline glands develop. 
Inner core of the strobile . — In the anterior region of the body this 
contains, beside the longitudinal add nerve vessels, more or less granu- 
lar or nuclear material in the loose and open meshes, formed by fibers 
which cross from side to side and others approximately at right angles 
to them. In the neck this space is quadrangular and poorly defined. 
Immediately behind the pseudoscolex it is elongated and lenticular in 
transverse sections. This general character is preserved throughout 
until distorted by the genitalia, which develop within and from its 
substance. 
Water vascular system . — Four longitudinal aquiferous vessels trav- 
erse the anterior part of the body. They are situated in pairs towards 
the margin of the central core. Each marginal pair consists of a large 
