332 
SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 
which appears to vary very much in size and hue ; it seems to be most 
nearly allied to G. catenigera, which has, however, only one pair of eyes, 
but the number of eyes is not, apparently, a character of generic import- 
ance in the Glossiphoniidse. 
In another notice * the author identifies the unnamed Australian 
Branchellion mentioned by Dr. J. D. Macdonald (1876) as B. punctatum 
of Baird, of which, as of B. imbricatum and B. linear e, he gives concise 
diagnoses. 
Dr. Blanchard’s notice f of Nepltelis atomaria is a preliminary work 
in which he points out the essential characters in the morphology of the 
Nephelidse. There is also a note on N. octoculata and descriptions of 
two new species, N. gallica and N. tergestina. 
B. Nemathelmintlies. 
Muscular Force of Gordius. J — Prof. L. Camerano has made a 
number of experiments with Gordius tolosanus and G. pustulosus. The 
maximum weight which they can bear and yet contract varies from 2 to 
4 grammes. The maximum weight which a square centimetre of muscle 
can support without breaking is 14262 ‘64 grammes for G. tolosanus and 
13730*28 for G. pustulosus. 
New Species of Gordius.§ — Prof. L. Camerano describes a new 
species of Gordius ( G . Modigliani), found by Dr. E. Modigliani in the 
island of Engano, near Sumatra. It most nearly resembles G. Bouvieri 
Villot and G. sumatrensis Villot, but is quite distinct. 
Ecdysis of Filaria Sanguinis Hominis.|| — Dr. P. Manson, noting 
the statement of M. Zune that some specimens of this Filaria have no 
sheath, but swim about naked in the blood, made some fresh observa- 
tions and experiments. He finds that in newly drawn blood the worm 
is invariably enclosed in a loose sheath ; but in some slides which were 
subjected to a frosty night, he observed that many of the parasites had 
quitted their sheaths, while others were vigorously endeavouring to do 
so. The blood on these slides had become thickened by the diffusion 
of haemoglobin, and it was the viscidity of the blood that enabled the 
worm to force its way out of its sheath. The author has several times 
chilled and thawed blood, and successfully reproduced the process of 
ecdysis. 
These chilling experiments explain the rationale of what actually 
happens in a natural way at another period in the history of the Filaria. 
In the stomach of a filaria-charged mosquito the blood is of a similarly 
viscid character, and here the worms have left or are trying to leave 
their sheaths, before travelling through the walls of the viscus and making 
their way into the thoracic muscles of the insect. The author de- 
scribes the organs and process by which the perforation of the wall is 
effected. 
* Bull. Soc. Zool. France, xvii. (1892) pp. 222 and 3. 
f Tom. cit., pp. 165-72 (5 fig:?.). 
X Atti R. Accad. Sci. Torino, xxviii. (1892-3) pp. 221-33. 
$ Ann. Mus. Civico Stor. Nat. Genoa, xxxii. (1892) pp. 539-41. 
j'| Brit. Med. Journal, No. 1685 (1893) pp. 792-4 (4 figs.). 
