H. Gr. Jackson 
49 
the Cairo abattoirs. He accepts Blanchard’s suggestion and withdraws the 
species aegyptiaca, not entirely without misgivings 1 , and further suggests 
that the gigantica type of fluke is an African form in the same way as 
F. magna may be looked upon as an American form. In this note he gives, 
however, no anatomical details and no figures.—Braun (1906), without adding 
any original observations, is willing to accept the identity of F. angusta and 
F. aegyptiaca with one another but is sceptical of their identity with F. 
gigantica. 
The prevailing uncertainty on the subject is largely due to the imperfect 
description of F. gigantica given by Cobbold and the fact that it has not been 
added to or revised since his time. By the courtesy of Dr Arthur Keith, F.R.S., 
I was given facilities for examining the original specimens in the Royal College 
of Surgeons, and am able to record all that the state of preservation of the 
specimens will allow to be contributed towards the elucidation of this matter. 
The specimens are three in number and quite extraordinarily different. They 
will be described in order of size: 
COBBOLD’S FASCIOLA GIGANTICA. 
Specimen No. 1 (Text-fig. 1). 76 mm. long by 5 mm. at broadest part. 
Cone cylindroconical and mounted on sharply projecting “shoulders,” the 
left in this specimen being more anteriorly placed than the right. The ventral 
sucker is large and prominent with an irregular triangular aperture. The 
greatest breadth of the body is attained just behind the right “shoulder” 
and it narrows so slightly that it has only decreased 1 mm. at the posterior 
end of the testis area—a length of 35 mm. from the mouth. The tail is bluntly 
pointed and the last 41 mm. of the body are entirely occupied by yolk glands 
and alimentary canal. Narrow strips of yolk glands continue laterally to 
the “shoulders.” The testes occupy the usual position and are coarsely lobed. 
The shell gland is visible 12 mm. from the anterior end and the uterus is 
long and loosely coiled. The gut cannot be made out in detail and no rami¬ 
fications of the lateral diverticula can be seen. Yolk glands appear to spread 
on both sides of the gut. Spines are not visible. Proportion of length to 
breadth, 15-2 to 1. 
Specimen No. 2 (Text-fig. 2) is 59 mm. long and 7 mm. broad. The cone 
passes into the body insensibly, there being no distinct “shoulders.” The 
sides are almost parallel, tapering ever so slightly towards the tail, which is 
bluntly rounded. The testes occupy more space than in No. 1 and are coarsely 
lobed. The remainder of the organs which can be made out are typical, or as 
figured by Cobbold. I make out, however, more than 8-10 branches of the 
gut diverticula and indeed Cobbold’s statement conflicts with his figures in 
this respect. Size of eggs: length 0-145 mm. to 0-150 mm., breadth 0-082 mm. 
to 0-088 mm. Proportion of length to breadth over 8 to 1. 
1 “...Ich wiisste gegen die Berechtigung seines Vorgehens gegenwartig nichts raehr ein- 
zuwenden, und ziehe F. aegyptiaca als selbstandige Species zuriick ” 
Parasitology xni 
4 
