67 
Greiiixs a,l^ci species Tan-cletei'i'nirxecl. 
Cases of Ward, 1903. — In referring to Kirtland’s case, Ward states that “two 
other unpublished cases have recently been communicated to me from Michigan and 
Maryland.” 
In reply to a personal letter W ard has informed me that — 
“ I remember the cases reasonably distinctly and I am sure of the fact that I was 
unable to secure the specimens, so that the species must remain undetermined. I 
am also under the impression that the practitioners could give no information in 
regard to the cases.” 
Medical sigNificaxge of horsehair worms. — Reference has 
already been made to the popular view in certain localities to the 
effect that these worms, if swallowed, produce very serious and even 
fatal results. The cases summarized above do not, however, bear out 
this view, but they support the opinion usualh" held by physicians and 
zoologists that horsehair worms are not dangerous. In fact, with the 
exception of Cloquet’s and Siebold’s cases, the symptoms seem to have 
been rather slight, or, at least, not severe. 
In this connection it is interesting to note that Bacounin (lT90a, 
31) fed large horsehair worms to dogs, cats, and birds without serious 
effects; then he swallowed two such worms himself. He states that he 
felt a kind of malaise, which soon disappeared. After this he fed six 
such worms to a bov without anv unfavorable results. 
Key to North American species of Gordiidje. — Probabh" 
almost an}" species of this family may occur in man. The following 
key, slightly rearranged, from a paper by Montgomery (1899), will 
enable the reader to determine the North American species: 
1. Caudal extremity trilobed Paragordius varius (female), p. 59 
Caudal extremity bilobed, spirally enrolled {Paragordius and Gordius males) 3 
Caudal extremity not lobed {Chordodes male and female, Gordius female) 2 
2. Caudal extremity spirally inrolled, narrower than the preceding portion of body 
and with a depression or groove on its ventral surface {Chordodes maid) 10 
Caudal extremity not spirally inrolled, not narrower than the preceding portion 
of body ( Chordodes and Gordius females) 12 
3. A sharp V-shaped ridge behind cloacal aperture, 4 
No sharp V-shaped ridge behind cloacal aperture 6 
Paragordius and Gordius males. 
4. Cuticle marked with large white spots; male Gordius aquaiicus {hunmenC) 
Cuticle not marked with white spots 5 
5. A parabolic line of hairs on caudal lobes; male. 
Gordius aquaticus Montgomery 
No line of hairs on caudal lobes; male Gordius aquaticus robustus Leidy 
6. A longitudinal line of hairs on each side of cloacal aperture; male. 
Gordius linecdus Leidy 
No line of hairs on each side of cloacal aperture 7 
7. Head end obliquely truncated; male Paragoridus' varius (Leidy), p. 59 
Head not obliquely truncated 8 
