NOTE ON THE ANATOMY OF 
GASTRODJSCUS HOMINIS 
(Lewis and McConnell, 1876) 
BY 
J. W. W. STEPHENS, M.D. Cantab. 
WALTER MYERS LECTURER IN TROPICAL MEDICINE, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL 
Since Lewis and McConnell, 1 in 1876, first described the anatomy of this 
fluke, it would appear that no subsequent examination of its structure has 
been made. Having found specimens of this fluke among some old post- 
mortem material from cases of Kala-azar, in Assam, preserved by 
Major Ross, I determined to re-examine this fluke, as doubts had 
been expressed by Leuckart-' as to the correctness of some portions of 
Lewis and McConnell* s description. I had intended, by cutting serial sections, 
to have investigated further several points not apparent by simple dissection. 
The imperfect state of preservation of the internal structures has, however, 
prevented my doing this completely, but I have been able to show that 
Leuckart's doubts were well founded, and that Lewis and McConnell's 
description, good as it is, is yet not accurate in some respects, and in others 
is incomplete. This fluke belongs to the family Paramphistomidae 
(Fischoeder) and to the sub-family, Cladorchmae, possessing pharyngeal 
pouches. The only other fluke in the genus Gastrodiscus, to which this species 
belongs, is G. polymastos , which has been fully described by Lejtenyi 3 . I 
was able to examine sections of this latter species, and on comparing 
them with those of G. hominis it became evident that in the main their 
structure was the same, though differing in details, and especially, as has 
been noticed by others, in the different characters of their " discs." 
External Features: — 
Without entering into detail concerning the external characters, for these 
have already been described by earlier observers, it will suffice to point out 
that G. hominis has a longer anterior portion than G. polymastos , and has the 
opening of the common genital pore about the middle, while in G. polymastos 
the common genital pore lies on the border or actually within the anterior 
margin of the disc. Again, in G. hominis the posterior sucker is actually 
longer, and relatively to the size of the disc much larger than 
in G. polymastos . The figures given by Lewis and McConnell of 
the external appearance of the fluke, though quite adequate for purposes of 
recognition, do not, in my opinion, accurately represent the shape of the 
disc. This, as also in G. polymastos , is not bordered by a complete rim, 
more or less inverted, but is interrupted in front where it is in continuity 
with the anterior conical portion, and also behind where the cuticle covering 
the sucker is continuous with that covering the dorsum of the disc (fig. 1). 
c 
