63 
base and between them, so that the cuticle and epidermis of the inner surface of 
the lobes are directly continuous with the cuticle and epithelium of the cloaca. 
The lobes may be either parallel or divergent, and hence are probably movable. 
Comparisons: This species has the greatest affinity to Paragorclius tricuspidatus 
(Dufour); but it differs from it in that there are spicules or spines upon the 
tail lobes of the female, and in that the dorsal is narrower than the lateral lobes; 
further, in P. varius the areoles of the cuticle are frequently arranged into rows 
or groups. 
Geographic distribution. — North America (California, Canada, Illinois, Kansas, 
Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, 
Virginia); Guatemala; and it has also been observed in Mexico, Peru and Bolivia. 
It appears to have a very extensive range, and it and G. aquaticus robustus are the 
most abundant forms in the northeastern portion of the United States. 
Fig. 55. — 'La.Tva oi Paragordius varius, with, extruded proboscis; 5i., blastopore; c?t., cuticle; dl, dia- 
phragm; fib., fiber cells; pZ., gland; gl. d., gland duct; glo., globules within intestine; h., cuticular 
hooks; hy., hypodermis; in., intestine; mes., mesenchym; mus., musclulature; nv., nervous 
thickening of hypodermis; sp. 1 to sp. 3, spicules of rows 1 to 3; st. d., dorsal stilets; st. v., ventral 
stilets. (Reduced from Montgomery, 1904, fig. 36.) 
The following four cases of infection with this worm have been 
found in North America: 
Case of Kirtland, ante 1861. — I have been unable to find the original account of 
this case. Diesing (1861a, 604) refers to it simply by the words “Ohio ex ano 
puelloe expulsus (Kirtland),” and all later authors seem to report it on basis of this 
passage. 
