10 
third stomachs and the pupae set at liberty to find their wa}^ 
to the natural habitat—the bile-ducts of the liver—for mature 
development. Such, then, is about the extent of what is at 
present known of the transformation of the liver fluke, but as 
already mentioned, Professor Thomas, of the Oxford Museum, 
has the matter in hand and is in a fair way of confirming 
what is already known, or discovering the real natural history,, 
and I say, “ God speed him in this great work.” When we 
take into account the enormous quantity of eggs produced by 
one single fluke, the migration and distribution of sheep and 
other animals, our heavy rainfalls and frequent floods in this 
our changeable climate, there is little wonder that our lands 
are more or less swarming with myriads of larvae of these 
small creatures, so that at certain times of the year one short 
hour, or even less, is quite sufficient to rot a whole flock of 
sheep that may be left or get accidentally on to lands of a 
soft, moist swampy character. The contamination is at times 
so quick that a large amount of ill-feeling has been caused 
between seller and buyer, sufficient to lead to unpleasant 
litigation, of which Professor Simonds gives several illustra¬ 
tions, and this brings us to enquire what is supposed to be the 
MOST LIKELY TIME OF DANGER. 
From practical observations, August , September and October 
are the months when the largest amount of danger is to be 
dreaded. A t this time of year the larvae have reached that 
natural condition outside of the body which best fits them for 
again re-entering the bodies of warm blooded animals wherein 
they are matured into ultimate flukes during the cold winter 
months preparatory to the deposit of their eggs on the arrival of 
spring. But this again depends a great deal on the peculiarity 
