198 
SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 
Terminal Organs of Excretory Canals in Ascarids.* * * § — Prof. N. Nas- 
sonov discusses Hamann’s description of tliese structures, and states his 
own observations. The terminal unicellular lymphatic gland is associated 
with a gigantic partially phagocytic cell of very complex structure. 
(Esophageal Gland of Nematodes.! — L. A. Jagerskiold describes (in 
Strongylus armatus and Dochmius duodenalis ) a gland which lies along 
the dorsal surface of the oesophagus, and has a duct opening on the 
anterior margin of the mouth-cavity. 
Platyhelminthes. 
New Prorhynchid Turbellarian.J — Prof. W. A. Haswell describes 
a remarkable Turbellarian found by Dr. Chilton in deep wells in 
Canterbury, New Zealand. It agrees with von Graff’s Prorhynchus in 
having a ciliated groove, anterior mouth, and chitinous copulatory 
organ. But it differs in several important points. Such are the more 
complex pharynx, the bifurcate posterior vessel of the excretory system, 
the rod-like chitinous supports of the penis sheath, the laterally placed 
vitello-ovary, and the unpaired laterally placed testis. The disposition 
of the reproductive organs is probably unique. Also very remarkable is 
the mode of copulation, for there is strong evidence that the sperms of 
one individual are conveyed into the interior of the ovary of another by 
the penis piercing the body-wall and penetrating to the ovary. The 
structure of the penis and vesicula seminalis suggests a hypodermic 
syringe, with a compressible ball instead of a cylinder and piston. 
In view, however, of the necessity for a more thorough knowledge of 
structure of the described species of Prorhynchus, Prof. Haswell thinks 
it best to regard this New Zealand form provisionally as a member of 
the genus, and proposes the name P. putealis. 
New Parasites.§ — Herr P. Miihling describes the following new 
species : — Urogonimus Bosittensis from the bursa Fabricii of Turdus 
pilaris ; Distomum exiguum in the bile-duct of Circus rufus ; D. imitans in 
the intestine of Abramis brama ; D. refertum from the gall-bladder of 
Cypselus apus ; D. nematoides from the intestine of Tropidonotus natrix ; 
D. simillimum from the intestine of Fuligula nyroca ; P. spiculigerum from 
the same ; and Monostomum alveatum (named but not described by Mehlis) 
from Fidigula marila. He has also notes on some forms which, though 
not new, are but little known ; on the “ cysts ” of Fchinostommi ferox and 
D. turgidum ; and on some parasites in unusual hosts, e.g. Schistocephalus 
solidus in the edible frog. 
New Tapeworm in a Bird.|| — Mr. A. E. Shipley describes Drepani- 
dotsenia hemignathi sp. n. from the intestine of Hemignathus procerus , 
Sandwich Islands. The diagnosis reads : — Length 1-2*2 cm. ; breadth, 
in the middle of the body, 2 mm. Head flattened and compressed, 
rostrum with a crown of ten hooks ; each hook 18-23 [x in length, and 
with but a slight trace of the inner limb of the forked base. Neck short. 
* Zool. Anzeig., xxi. (1898) pp. 48-50. 
t Biliang. K. Svensk. Yet. Akad. Handl., xxiii. (1897) Afd. iv. No. 5, 26 pp. 
and 2 pis. % Quart. Journ. Micr. Sci.,;xl. (1898) pp. 631-45 (1 pi.). 
§ Zool. Anzeig., xxi. (1898) pp. 16-24. 
|| Quart. Journ. Mier. Sci., xl. (1898) pp. 613-21 (1 pi.). 
