278 Memoirs of the Indian Museum. [Vol. VII, 



mentions four pairs of papillae on the finger-shaped terminal appendage, two ventral 

 and two "dorsal." We find, in addition to two ventral and two subdorsal pairs, 

 a fifth pair, lateral in position (fig. n). 1 The one other postanal papilla on either 

 side, mentioned by von Linstow, is on the thicker portion of the body, and is a 

 double papilla, facing posteriorly. There is a regular series of about 15 preanal 

 papillae on either side, as stated by von Linstow. The spicules are equal in length 

 (125 mm. in a moderately large specimen). Each is composed of a tubular shaft 

 having a transversely striated appearance and gradually increasing in diameter to- 

 wards its base, and two very broad membranous alae. 



This species, when taken from cranes, has a relatively short and stout build, some females attaining 

 a diameter of about 4 mm Some specimens from Ardea cinerea in the British Museum are so slender in 

 proportion to their length, as compared with those from cranes, that it seemed probable that they 

 belonged to a different species. We have found no important difference, however, in the structure of 

 the head or of the male tail, and therefore conclude that the forms in cranes and in herons are all 

 P. serpentulus. 



Porrocaecum reticulatum (v. Linst., 1899). 



(Fig. 12). 



Syn. Ascaris reticulata, v. Linstow (1899), p. 7; pi. I, fig. 11. 



Ascaris ardeae, Smith, Fox and White (1908), p. 287; pi. VI, figs. 1-7. 



{nee Ascaris ardeae, Frölich, 1802; A. ardeae, Diesing, 1851 ; A. ardearum, Rud., 1819.) 



Material from the intestines of the Eastern purple heron (Ardea manillensis), 

 the night heron (Nycticorax griseus) and an egret (species not mentioned), all from 

 the Calcutta Zoological Garden, appears to us to be referable to Ascaris reticulata. 

 All our specimens, however, are rather small compared with the measurements given 

 by the authors cited, and although the sexual characters are developed and the 

 females already contain ova, it is probable that they had not yet attained their full 

 size. On comparison of the descriptions and figures given by von Linstow and by 

 the American authors, we feel no doubt as to the identity of A. reticulata and 

 A. ardeae. Smith, Fox and White. In both cases, however, important points appear to 

 have been overlooked by the observers, as our own material shows. Von Linstow 

 states that interlabia and dentigerous ridges are absent, while omitting any descrip- 

 tion of the structure of the oesophagus and the anterior part of the intestine. The 

 American authors, on the other hand, observed the well-developed interlabia and the 

 presence of dentigerous ridges, but state that the oesophagus has no " bulb", and 

 make no mention of an intestinal caecum. From our own observations it is clear 

 that the characters of the head have been accurately described by Smith, Fox and 

 White. It is just possible to understand how the interlabia were overlooked by von 

 Linstow, since in a cleared specimen in certain positions they are almost entirely 

 hidden by the lips, and their delicate outlines become very elusive. It is less easy 

 to explain how the American authors failed to see the extremely well-developed 

 intestinal caecum, which runs forward beside the oesophagus for a considerable 



1 Our figure is taken from a specimen from Grus australasiana , in the British Museum, and not from Indian Museum 

 material. 



