No. 390.] REVIEWS OF RECENT LITERATURE. 529 
important observations. LZchinostoma spathulatum, discovered in the 
intestine of Botaurus minutus by Bremser, and never reported since 
the original description of Rudolphi, was found in the same host. Its 
peculiar features as described by the author render it worthy of 
generic rank. The most striking point is the pair of retractile 
papilla, armed with spines, which are found on the mid-ventral line 
in the posterior third of the body and serve as organs of fixation. 
A branch from each lateral excretory canal penetrates into each 
papilla and terminates there in a sac, producing a mechanism which 
recalls the Echinoderm ambulacrum. Cutaneous glands give rise to 
appearances like the tactile papilla of Blochmann and Bettendorf ; 
these are elevations with apparent openings in the apex and a minute 
duct, the connection of which with the glands was not demonstrated. 
Noteworthy is further the occurrence of cilia on the epithelium of 
the intestine. 
The author then discusses three new forms of the genus Opis- 
thorchis, in one of which the excretory pore has an unusual location, 
on the mid-ventral line just behind the ovary. The tendency in this 
genus to dextrosinistral inversion of organs, or, as Kowalewski calls 
it, to sexual amphitypy, which makes some individuals the mirror 
image of the usual type in the species, is treated at length and from 
evidence submitted shown to be present in half of the known species. 
The diagnosis of the genus is amended and its subdivisions outlined. 
For the interesting Az/harzia polonica, discovered by Kowalewski in 
1895, a large number of hosts is now reported, species of Anas and 
related genera. Usually the parasite is found in the blood, but 
occasionally in the gall bladder; its nourishment, as the author 
maintains, consists primarily of blood plasma and less frequently of 
erythrocytes. In addition to structural details previously reported, 
mention is here made of special dermal organs of the male, which in 
appearance are not unlike tactile papilla or the cutaneous glands 
referred to above. These exist separately or in groups on the ventral 
surface, including the suckers, on the dorsum of the neck, and on the 
posterior margins of the body. Strings of granules from the apex 
connect with granular masses in the gynecophoric canal, suggesting 
the discharged secretion of glands; yet these masses may be of 
external origin. The Czeckish original is illustrated by two fine 
plates. However much one may admire the loyalty of the author, it 
is yet a matter of regret that one’s knowledge of the work must be 
gained from a brief French résumé, because the riches of the original 
article are buried in such an inaccessible language. H. B. W. 
