402 
NOTES ON THE COLLECTION AND PRESERVATION 
OF PARASITIC WORMS. 
By H. A. BAYLIS, M.A, D.Sc. 
(.British Museum (Natural History)). 
At the request of Prof. G. H. F. Nuttall, F.R.S., the writer has attempted 
to put together a few notes on methods found useful in obtaining well-preserved 
specimens for helminthological purposes. Of the large number of methods 
that have been recommended for the various groups by different authorities, 
only a limited selection can be given, and preference is given, where possible, 
to those which are comparatively simple and can be employed in the field 
or under the limited conditions of a field laboratory, while at the same time 
experience has shown them to give sufficiently good results for ordinary 
purposes. 
Some few years ago the writer drew up a pamphlet on "'worms for the 
series of Instructions for Collectors issued by .the British Museum (Natural 
History). In this were given in short form some selected methods for the 
treatment of the parasitic groups, which had been specially recommended by 
well-known authorities. These require some little modification and expansion, 
and are given here in greater detail, together with a few others taken from 
various sources. The writer has had the benefit of some advice from helminth¬ 
ologists whose work on special groups is well known, and has made use of 
the published writings of others. Thanks are especially due to Dr C. L. 
Boulenger and Dr F. J. Meggitt, of the University of Birmingham,. and to 
Capt. B. Daubney, of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, for valuable 
suggestions and ungrudging help. 
Collecting. 
The majority of the parasitic worms of vertebrate animals are, of course, 
found in the alimentary canal. It must not be forgotten, however, that many 
inhabit other organs and tissues of the body, and when searching for intestinal 
worms an examination of the rest of the body of the host should by no means 
be omitted. As examples of the situations, other than the alimentary canal, 
in which worms, either adult or larval, may be found, may be mentioned the 
thoracic and abdominal cavities and their lining membranes; the liver and 
bile ducts, and the gall-bladder; the nasal cavities and orbits; the mouth; 
the trachea and bronchi, and the lungs generally; the heart and larger blood¬ 
vessels (especially the portal system); the kidneys, ureters, bladder and urethra; 
