52 THOMPSON YATES LABORATORIES REPORT 
body of the uterus by the formalin in which they were preserved, whereas the 
embryos of F. nocturna described and measured were fixed in blood films by 
absolute alcohol). 
The following 'spots' were made out : — 
1 . An oval or diamond shape central spot, at a distance of 24 per cent. 
of the length of the worm from the anterior end. 
2. An indistinct lateral area containing scattered nuclei — distance 37*3. 
3. A longer portion of the worm which stains badly, and in which the 
nuclei are irregularly scattered : sometimes it is divided into two 
portions, anterior and posterior. Because of the bad definition 
of this area, its position could not be ascertained exactly. 
4. A small lateral bay, at a distance of 8 6" 2. 
Filaria nocturna, diurna and perstans. 
Geographical distribution. Hirsch 1 gives an interesting account of the 
distribution of elephantiasis throughout the world. ' In the Eastern Hemisphere the 
disease is endemic in many districts : the Southern regions of the Asiatic continents 
and islands, such as the coast of Arabia, many parts of India, Ceylon and the 
Malay Archipelago, some districts of further India and the Southern and South- 
Eastern coasts of China. In Syria and in Japan the disease is not so common. In 
India elephantiasis is specially frequent along the littoral of Lower Bengal ; along the 
littoral swamp of the Orissa. It is found also in Pondicherry and at a few places on 
the Coromandel Coast ; but most of all on the Malabar coast, especially in the 
districts of Travancore and Cochin. In the Deccan and in upper India it occurs 
much less frequently, although small endemic centres exist. In Ceylon the disease 
is common, more especially along the coast. In the East Indies, the Lampong 
district of Sumatra, Banka, the Nicobars, and the Phillipines, are the regions most 
severely affected ; the disease is less often seen in the other islands such as Java and 
Amboina. It occurs also in Penang and in Cochin China. 
Certain of the islands of Polynesia are among the worst regions of the globe 
for elephantiasis : such as the northern part of New Caledonia, the Tonga, and Fiji 
groups, the Samoa group, Wallis Island, the Society Islands (especially Tahiti and 
Raiatea), and the Gambia group. It is less common in the Marquesas and in the 
Hawaiian Islands. In Australia as well as in New Zealand, it is not endemic. In 
Africa, Reunion and Mauritius, the Seychelles, Madagascar and Nossi-Be, the 
Mozambique and Zanzibar coasts, the whole coast of Upper Guinea, including the 
Gaboon and Cameroons country, and the Benin Coast, Gold Coast, Spice Coast and 
Sierra Leone, as well as the Senegambia, the disease is endemic. In parts of Tunis, 
Algiers, and Egypt nearest the Mediterranean, and the swampy valleys of the interior 
1. Hirscli, Handbook of Geographical and Historical Pathology. New Sydenham Society, 1886, vol. iii, q. 712. 
