87 
ON ASCAEIS VITULORUM GOEZE. 
By C. L. BOULENGER, M.A., D.Sc. 
(From the Research Laboratory in Agricultural Zoology , 
University of Birmingham.) 
(With 3 Text-figures) 
Until the appearance of Neumann’s paper “ Sur 1 Ascaride des Betes Bovines 
(1883), Ascaris vitulorum was not generally accepted as a valid species, the 
form from cattle being referred by different authorities either to Ascaris 
lumbricoides or A. megalocephala. Neumann’s study of this worm showed, 
however, that the species differs in many important anatomical characters 
from the common Ascarids of the pig and the horse and since the publication 
of his memoir the specific identity of A. vitulorum has not been disputed. 
My attention was called to this parasite in India last year, the material 
used for class purposes in the Punjab University including specimens of an 
Ascaris from the Indian domesticated buffalo (Bos bubalis). The general 
macroscopic anatomy of these worms, as seen dissected by students in the 
laboratory, seemed to agree very well with that described by Neumann, and 
at the time I had no doubt that I was dealing with the same species as that 
found in cattle in Europe. 
Since my return to Birmingham I have subjected the material to closer 
microscopic study which showed that the Indian specimens differ in several 
characters, including some of considerable systematic importance, from the 
A. vitulorum as described by Neumann. 
The specific diagnosis of A. vitulorum, as now generally accepted, is the 
following given by Ransom (1911) in his monograph on the Nematodes 
parasitic in the alimentary tract of Ruminants, and based no doubt largely 
on Neumann’s account: 
“ Specific diagnosis.— Ascaris : Lips without papillae, narrowed anteriorly. 
Tail terminated by a mucronate, conical tip. Esophagus followed by a rudi¬ 
mentary ventricle. 
Male 15 to 25 cm. long by 3 mm. in maximum thickness. \ entral surface 
of tail supplied with two irregular rows of 10 to 15 papillae each, all preanal. 
Female 22 to 30 cm. long by 5 mm. in thickness. Vulva toward the anterior 
sixth of the body. Eggs 75 to 80 p in length. 
Hosts. —Cattle (Bos taurus) ; zebu (Bos indicus). ’ 
