O. V. Huffman 
79 
body and V spot. When the ovoid masses are seen from a direction 
midway between that which shows their broadest dimensions and that 
which shows their least dimensions, a conical papilla is observed which 
has its apex directed laterally (Plate IV, Fig. 3). All of the embryos 
have these V spots and they are not properly situated in relation to the 
length of the embryo to represent the vulvar and anal openings as 
suggested by Manson and by Ashburn and Craig. 
In the stained specimens the ovoid masses at the V spots did not 
cause a bulging as in the live specimens, but at their site there was a 
slight narrowing of the body. Throughout the body in most specimens 
we could determine the stained intestine. Behind the posterior V spot 
the intestine was not stained perfectly but in sections gave rise to 
the appearance of rod-like bodies placed end to end as described by 
Ashburn and Craig. These latter authors permitted an ellipsis in their 
article where they state “ At about the middle of the posterior of the 
worm are situated the posterior V spot and the papilla.” They 
attempted to describe a new species of Filaria but did not point out 
any determining morphological characteristics. The microfilaria which 
they described as a new species, F. philippinensis, had been previously 
diagnosed in their case as F. diurna. 
The interior of the live embryos, with the exception of the retractile 
specks at the head and the two ovoid masses, is entirely homogeneous. 
In the specimens which had been stained after death, the interior was 
made up of irregular shaped masses which stained deeply (Plate IV, 
Fig. 4); the ovoid masses were not so large. The posterior ovoid 
mass becomes stained before the anterior mass which is more resistant 
to staining solutions. Embryos stained by a very dilute solution of 
basic fucbsin, while alive, take up the stain at the periphery of the ovoid 
masses and in the specks near the head end (Fig. 2). They also, if 
stained by a stronger solution, take up the stain in the rudimentary 
intestine (Fig. 4). The unstained live embryos are white and trans¬ 
lucent. Those which were placed in human blood (wet preparations) 
appeared of the same colour as the blood plasma. None of the embryos 
either in water or blood lived more than an hour after separation from 
their mother. As the measurements of Filaria diurna do not exceed 
those of the embryo of Filaria loa, as measured by Livon and P^naud 
and by myself, it is fair to assume that no great changes take place while 
in the blood and that a study of viviparous embryos should give results 
not unlike those of a study of the filaria found in the blood. 
