SEA-FISHERIES LABORATORY. 123 



are so placed that their longer diameters are parallel with 

 those of the muscle fibres. 



These bodies, Fig. 4, have a rather thick homogeneous 

 investment of the nature of a cuticle, degenerated so that 

 no traces of cellular or laminar structure is apparent. It 

 stains readily, but even in the unstained condition it is dark 

 brown or black in colour. Outside this there are shreds of 

 tissue, the nature of which is doubtful. Within the investing, 

 homogeneous layer, is a rod-like body, sometimes retracted 

 away from the sheath. This is finely granular in structure, 

 but with no traces of cells. Septa are quite absent so that the 

 hypothesis of a hyphal nature for the bodies may be excluded. 

 Also there is no branching. 



Apparently these bodies are rather to be compared with 

 a somewhat similar condition in the flesh of the Hake already 

 described by me.* In this latter case the flesh contained 

 minute round bodies with an obvious laminar structure. 

 They were identified as degenerate eggs. 



In the present case the most likely identification of the 

 intrusive bodies is that they are degenerate Cestode larvae. 

 It is true that there are no traces of hooks, or of the character- 

 istic calcareous corpuscles, but the organism may be one in 

 which there were no hooks on the scolex and the calcareous 

 corpuscles may have completely degenerated or may have 

 been dissolved by the process of preservation. 



4. On the occurrence of a Birth-Pore in the 

 Cestode Anthobothrium musteli (vanBenedcn). 



A few cestodes obtained from the large Intestine of the 

 Ray (Raia clavata) and the Tope (Galeus vulgaris) were identified 

 as van Beneden's species Anthobothrium musteli. Mqs1 of 

 the specimens were immature strobilae, but several had 



* Report for 1908 of the Lancashire Sea-Fish. Lab., 1909, pp. 90 92. PL3, 



Figs. 2 and 3. 



