272 



Memoirs of the Indian Museum. 



[Vol. VII, 



narrow, convoluted vagina opens into a short (not exceeding 5 mm.) unpaired uterine 

 chamber, as described by Dujardin, from which the two branches of the uterus run 



back parallel to each other, and nearly 

 straight in large specimens. The coils 

 of the [ovarian tubes, after running 

 nearly to the posterior end of the 

 body, return anteriorly as -far as the 

 level of the vulva. The eggs are 

 oval (not globular), and have a thick, 

 smooth shell measuring o - 0775-o , oo, X 

 0'o6-0"075 mm. When ready for lay- 

 ing, this shell appears to become 

 covered, as in Ascaris lumbricoides, 

 with an irregular external coat of a 

 yellowish albuminoid substance, which 

 perhaps gave Dujardin the impression 

 of a ' f punctulated " shell. The con- 

 tent of the egg is unsegmented at the 

 time of laying. 



Genus Ophidascaris, Baylis, 1921. 



Ophidascaris filaria (Duj., 1845). 



This species occurred in abund- 

 ance in the alimentary canal of Python 

 molurus on nineteen occasions. We 

 have also to record the presence of 

 immature forms of various ages in the 

 lung of Python molurus and P. reticul- 

 ars. In two cases the same animal 

 harboured adults in the intestine and larvae in the lung at the same time. The 

 immature worms in the lung measured from about 9 to 60 mm. in length, but in 

 the largest of them the lips had not yet acquired their definitive structure (except in 

 one case where the label stated that the material came from the lung, but the accuracy 

 of this statement may be doubted, as the uteri of the females already contained 

 ova). 



From the occurrence of the young forms in the lung of the python, it appears probable that the 

 larvae have a course of migration within the body of the host, like that of the larvae of Ascaris 

 lumbricoides, before finally establishing themselves in the alimentary canal. 1 



Fig. 5. — Toxascaris trans fuga 

 ventral view. 



s., right spicule ; w. 

 cloaca. 



Tail of male ; latero- 

 wall of depression surrounding 



1 It has recently been shown by Ortlepp {Jl. of Trop. Med. and Hyg., XXV, p. 97) that the embryos of Polydelphis 

 attennata are capable of partial development in the mouse, and that they migrate through the lungs as in the case of 

 Ascaris lumbricoides. Our note was written before the appearance of Ortlepp's paper. 



