SNAKES OF CEYLON. 121 



which is its thickest part, is furnished on its ventral aspect 

 with four curved claw -like hooks, yellowish in colour, and 

 placed around the mouth. By these it attaches itself to the 

 mesenteric folds. The hody, which gradually reduces in girth 

 posteriorly, consists of about thirty subequal segments. It no 

 doubt sucks the blood of its host. 



Another parasite, and one which must seriously affect the 

 health of its host, is a nematode worm called Kalicephalus 

 ivilleyi after Dr. Willey, the Director of the Colombo Museum. 

 This I have only found in the stomach attaching itself to the 

 inner coats of that organ, but Von Linstow says it also inhabits 

 the intestine of many snakes. It is of a gregarious habit, and 

 the several members of a single colony vary very much in 

 length, the longest being as much as 5 inches. It is about as 

 thick throughout as the catgut on a tennis racquet, reddish- 

 brown in colour, with a grayish-white caudal extremity. 

 The head, as shown by Von Linstow, is compressed and is 

 furrowed dorsally and ventrally. The mouth is large and has 

 six papillae, three on each side, situated around its margin. 

 The body appears to be depressed and its surface smooth. 

 Often more than one cluster of these worms is found to have 

 invaded the stomach. This organ, as a result of these para- 

 sites, becomes knuckled and distorted, and its walls very much 

 thickened, cartilaginous, and rigid, so that it would appear 

 doubtful if it could distend sufficiently to accommodate the 

 relatively enormous bulk that is so often swallowed at a 

 meal. 



A third parasite infesting stolata is a larval form of tape- 

 worm, which, though sent to Professor Von Linstow, he could 

 not further determine than that it was a species of Pterocercus. 

 These parasites are white and flattened and locate themselves 

 usually beneath the lining membrane of the abdominal 

 cavity, but sometimes beneath the dorsal integument, where 

 they form flat blister-like swellings. When these are cut into, 

 the parasite is found in a convoluted mass, which when un- 

 ravelled may measure up to 10 inches in length. They do not 

 seem to invade any hollow or solid organ. They exist in large 

 numbers in some specimens, even to the extent of making the 

 host appear gravid, 



21 6(6)20 



