﻿4 
  PROCEEDINGS 
  OF 
  THE 
  NATIONAL 
  MUSEUM 
  vol. 
  67 
  

  

  a 
  European 
  mole, 
  presumably 
  Talpa 
  europaea. 
  The 
  worms 
  which 
  

   have 
  the 
  shape 
  of 
  the 
  figure 
  8 
  as 
  they 
  lie 
  in 
  the 
  cyst 
  are 
  described 
  and 
  

   figured 
  by 
  Goeze. 
  who 
  recognized 
  their 
  ascarid 
  structure 
  and 
  placed 
  

   them 
  in 
  the 
  genus 
  Cucullanus. 
  The 
  specific 
  name 
  Cucullanus 
  talpae 
  

   was 
  proposed 
  for 
  these 
  parasites 
  by 
  Schrank 
  (1788). 
  Zeder 
  (1803) 
  

   named 
  them 
  Fusaria 
  incisa 
  and 
  Rudolphi 
  (1802) 
  called 
  them 
  Ascaris 
  

   incisa, 
  by 
  which 
  name 
  they 
  have 
  been 
  commonly 
  known 
  to 
  helminthol- 
  

   ogists. 
  Leuckart 
  (1842) 
  records 
  encysted 
  larval 
  nematodes 
  from 
  the 
  

   abdominal 
  cavity 
  and 
  liver 
  of 
  the 
  European 
  shrew 
  {Sorex 
  tetragon- 
  

   urus 
  ) 
  similar 
  to 
  and 
  possibly 
  identical 
  with 
  Ascaris 
  incisa. 
  Leuckart 
  's 
  

   specimens 
  are 
  from 
  10 
  mm. 
  to 
  18 
  mm. 
  long, 
  whereas 
  Ascaris 
  inoisa 
  

   is 
  only 
  from 
  8 
  mm. 
  to 
  10 
  mm. 
  long 
  according 
  to 
  various 
  observers. 
  

   Without 
  expressing 
  any 
  definite 
  opinion, 
  Leuckart 
  considers 
  the 
  

   possibility 
  that 
  the 
  forms 
  from 
  the 
  shrew 
  are 
  distinct 
  from 
  Ascaris 
  

   incisa 
  and 
  proposes 
  the 
  tentative 
  name 
  Ascaris 
  acanthura 
  for 
  his 
  

   specimens. 
  According 
  to 
  Seurat 
  (1916) 
  Spiroptera 
  strumosa 
  Megnin 
  

   (1881) 
  is 
  synonymous 
  with 
  Ascaris 
  incisa 
  Rudolphi 
  (1802). 
  Under 
  

   the 
  name 
  Spiroptera 
  strumosa 
  Megnin 
  records 
  encysted 
  nematodes 
  

   from 
  the 
  surface 
  of 
  the 
  stomach 
  and 
  intestines 
  of 
  a 
  European 
  mole. 
  

   This 
  writer 
  finds 
  that 
  although 
  these 
  cysts 
  are 
  six 
  times 
  as 
  large 
  as 
  

   Trichinae 
  cysts, 
  they 
  have 
  been 
  mistaken 
  for 
  the 
  latter. 
  Baylis 
  

   (1924) 
  expresses 
  the 
  opinion 
  that 
  encysted 
  nematodes 
  from 
  small 
  

   mammals, 
  such 
  as 
  shrews, 
  belong 
  to 
  the 
  genus 
  Porrocaecum. 
  This 
  

   opinion 
  is 
  apparently 
  based 
  on 
  Leuckart's 
  idea 
  that 
  Ascaris 
  incisa 
  

   is 
  a 
  larval 
  stage 
  of 
  Ascaris 
  depressum 
  {Porrocaecum 
  depressum). 
  

  

  The 
  two 
  species 
  of 
  Porrocaecum 
  larvae 
  described 
  in 
  this 
  paper 
  are 
  

   related 
  to 
  the 
  various 
  forms 
  described 
  from 
  Europe, 
  but 
  they 
  differ 
  

   from 
  the 
  latter 
  as 
  regards 
  location, 
  occurring 
  subcutaneously, 
  where- 
  

   as 
  the 
  European 
  specimens 
  have 
  been 
  recorded 
  from 
  the 
  abdominal 
  

   cavity. 
  Ascaris 
  incisa, 
  is 
  in 
  all 
  probability, 
  a 
  group 
  name, 
  similar 
  

   to 
  Ascaris 
  capsulevria, 
  a 
  collective 
  name 
  including 
  various 
  agamic 
  

   nematodes 
  encysted 
  in 
  fishes. 
  According 
  to 
  Seurat's 
  diagnosis 
  

   (1916) 
  Ascaris 
  incisa 
  occurs 
  in 
  branching 
  cysts, 
  the 
  capsules 
  being 
  

   multiple 
  and 
  connected 
  to 
  each 
  other 
  by 
  peduncles 
  given 
  off 
  from 
  the 
  

   c}"st 
  wall. 
  This 
  is 
  borne 
  out 
  by 
  Leuckart's 
  figures 
  of 
  Ascaris 
  incisa 
  

   (Leuckart, 
  1876). 
  Megnin 
  ? 
  s 
  figure 
  of 
  Spiroptera 
  strumosa 
  likewise 
  

   shows 
  a 
  pedunculated 
  cyst. 
  Goeze's 
  figures 
  of 
  Cucullanus 
  talpae, 
  

   and 
  Leuckart's 
  figures 
  of 
  Ascaris 
  acanthura, 
  which 
  he 
  considered 
  as 
  

   probably 
  identical 
  with 
  Ascaris 
  incisa, 
  show 
  nonpedunculated 
  cysts, 
  

   from 
  which 
  it 
  may 
  be 
  concluded 
  that 
  under 
  the 
  name 
  Ascaris 
  incisa 
  

   two 
  or 
  more 
  species 
  are 
  probably 
  included. 
  

  

  Porrocaecum 
  encapsulatum 
  differs 
  strikingly 
  from 
  all 
  previously 
  

   described 
  nematode 
  larvae 
  from 
  Insectivora 
  in 
  size, 
  since 
  it 
  is 
  four 
  

   times 
  as 
  long 
  as 
  Ascaris 
  incisa 
  and 
  twice 
  as 
  long 
  as 
  the 
  longest 
  

   •specimens 
  of 
  AscaHs 
  acanthura. 
  Porrocaecum 
  encapsulatum 
  is 
  

  

  