In a paper published towards the end of last year the author (Goodey, 1927) described a new free-living species of Aphelenchus, A. winchesi, and dealt with the type species of the genus A. avenæ, discussing its affinities to certain nearly related species. A further paper was promised dealing with the various species of the genus and the present communication is an attempt to fulfil that promise.

From considerations of previous work on the vinegar eelworm, and from the writer's experiments, it is concluded that:

I.—Concerning physical and chemical stimuli:

(a) The worm has very little need of oxygen, but displays a negative geotaxis which is independent of dissolved oxygen as a stimulus.

(b) It tolerates temperatures between 0° and 35°, can survive short intervals at 20°, and can live for several days at 37°. It is practically indifferent to light.

(c) The worm and its larvæ are very susceptible to drying, surviving only a few minutes a thorough desiccation from water.

(d) The toleration limits for hydrogen ion concentration are pH: 1·6 on the acid side and about pH : 11 on the alkaline side.

(e) So far as can be ascertained, the worm tends to make the medium in which it lives slightly but permanently more acid than it would otherwise be.

(f) It is very sensitive to iodine, ammonia and chloroform, but is extraordinarily resistant to most chemical substances, including acidity indicators and buffer solutions.

(g) It can be grown in most culture media, and has been cultured aseptically by Zimmermann, who finds that either bacteria (living or dead) or an unknown substance from the autolysate of yeast is essential as food.

The Root Knot disease of tomatoes and cucumbers, caused by the attacks of Heterodera radicicola Müll., is of widespread occurrence and under certain conditions, notably in the presence of fungi, may cause serious losses. Under some conditions considerable infestation may be present and yet produce no apparent ill-effects on the plants.

Experiments having indicated that sodium cyanide was beneficial in reducing the amount of eelworm infestation and pot trials having suggested that calcium cyanide might also prove effective, trials with calcium cyanide were carried out at various centres in 1926 and 1927.

Although the morphology of the adult stage of the majority of the helminthic parasites of domestic stock is now well known there still remains a considerable amount of work to be done on the larval stages of these worms. Some of the more recent researches on the infective stage of human and other hookworms have shown that a close study of the morphology reveals appreciable differences between the larval stages of closely allied species and that the differences can be used as diagnostic characters.

In March, 1928, Mr. S. F. Ashby of the Imperial Bureau of Mycology, sent the writer some portions of diseased banana roots for examination and determination of the nematodes occurring therein. The material had come from plants growing in the Palm House at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, where bananas of several species had been growing for some years in the same soil. Information was later sent that the plants had been in failing health for the last two or three years and that this year the symptoms of disease had become acute. These symptoms were said to be quite similar to those described by Nowell (1919) in the case of diseased “bluggoe“ banana in Grenada with which Tylenchus musicola was found to be associated.

En 1927 Journal of Helminthology a publié une note de Goodey sur Cylindrogaster coprophaga gen. et sp. nov., provenant d'une culture des excréments de rat (Rattus norvegicus). La note donne une description détaillée de la nouvelle espèce, accompagnée d'excéllentes figures.

Heterodera schachtii Schmidt, 1871, first discovered and studied by Schacht in 1859 was recognised as a parasite injurious to the sugar-beet by Ktihn in 1881. Subsequent to the discovery of its pathogenicity it has been studied by many observers both in Europe and in the United States where it was introduced about the beginning of the present century, and has now become established in the beet-growing areas of Utah and California. A detailed morphological account of the nematode was first given by Strubell, 1881, who carried out his observations on material obtained from sugar-beet. Other workers have supplemented Strubell's description in several minor respects and have also described the nematode as it occurs on other plant species.

The species of Onchocerca described in this paper was received some months ago from Mr. J. L. Stewart, M.C., M.R.C.V.S., from Tamale, Gold Coast Colony. The cysts containing the parasites are found most commonly in the subcuticular connective tissue of the inter-costal muscles; but they are also found elsewhere, usually in a superficial position. Mr. Stewart in a letter accompanying the material, draws attention to their superficial resemblance to Cysticercus bovis.

Ælurostrongylus abstrusus, discovered by Mueller in the lungs of cats in Germany, has since been reported from various other countries in Europe. In many cases the diagnosis has been based on the recovery of the characteristic larva but occasionally a few adults have been found. These have generally been isolated by teasing up the lung substance in normal saline and then searching through the fluid by means of a low-powered objective or a dissecting microscope. The technique adopted by the writer was to cut thin slices of lung tissue, to compress these between two ordinary glass slides, and to examine them with an inch objective. The larvæ could be easily found in the expressed fluid and adults could be noticed as dark masses in the lung itself. When seen, the adults were removed by means of dissecting needles.

The species of the Nematode genus Strongyloides are of considerable interest to helminthologists and extensive studies on the biology of their life-history have been carried out by various workers. Their chief interest lies in the fact that the parasitic stage consists of hermaphroditic forms only, while in the free-living stage there may be a differentiation into males and females before reaching the infective stage. This alternation in the life-cycle is also exhibited by the allied genus Rhabdias, with the exception that, according to Railliet (1899) and Goodey (1922), certain species from the snake do not appear to have this differentiation in the free-living stage.

A Few specimens of the Trichostrongyle, described in this paper, were obtained from the intestine of moles caught on the experimental farm of the Institute of Agricultural Parasitology, St. Albans.

In connection with investigations of the United States Bureau of Fisheries in Alaska in 1906, Professor H. B. Ward spent considerable time in the study of the parasites of the Pacific salmon. Around Excursion Inlet he secured a large amount of valuable material. The following study was made of one of the specimens collected by him, to whom I am grateful for the loan of it.

By the close of the winter of 1925–26, the author's investigations into the value of certain drugs in the treatment and control of liver rot of sheep had reached a stage when it was felt that further advancement in certain important directions necessitated the employment of sheep subjects which had become infested with Fasciola hepatica to a known degree at a particular time. Naturally infested sheep were unsuitable, since observation had demonstrated a great variation—as regards both extent and type—in the infestation of sheep of the same flock.

In October, 1927, a rusty tiger cat, Felis planiceps, died at the Zoological Gardens, London, three weeks after imporation from the Malay States. An examination of the intestinal tract and of certain portions of the connective tissue revealed the presence of at least a dozen different species of helminths, embracing many diverse groups of worms. In the connective tissue, in addition, were a number of small oval cysts, somewhat resembling a trichina cyst in outline, but much larger in size and with a totally different structure. Fat globules were seen at the poles. It was not found possible to identify them but it is possible that they were parasitic in origin.

The material upon which this study is based was obtained from a Red-Bellied Water Snake, Francia abacura, from Florida, which had died at the Zoological Gardens, London. This particular snake had been at the Gardens for only a fortnight before its death, so unquestionably infestation had taken place in America before transfer to London. No opportunity was afforded the writer for studying the material in a living condition and consequently the measurements were made from preserved material in the Helminthological Collection of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Last Fall my attention was called to an adult Necturus maculosus Raf. in our vivarium by Dr. C. L. Parmenter, in charge, from the cloaca of which protruded some mature tapeworm segments. One cestode only was found in the duodenum which measured 83 mm. The head was easily recovered. It proved to be Ophiotænia lönnbergii (Fuhrmann) as described and illustrated by La Rue (1914). La Rue has frequently found the species in Necturus from Ohio and Indiana. This one is from Allegheny in Pennsylvania, showing a wider distribution. La Rue states: “I have examined your slides of Ophiotænia from Necturus and find them to be O.lōnnbergii without question.”

Until now Schistosoma mansoni has been regarded as an essentially human parasite. In 1859, Cobbold recorded from Cercocebus fuliginosus a species of Schistosome which he called Bilharzia magna. The only specimen which has been preserved was found to be a fragment of a male by Leiper (1915), who states, “I have been quite unable to identify it with either of the species now recognised in man.” Various authorities have, however, referred this species to S. hœmatobium. S. mansoni has been grown experimentally by Leiper in rats, mice, guinea pigs and African and Indian monkeys, and by Lutz in rabbits. It has never been found naturally in any animal other than man.

Upon unanimous recommendation by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, the International Zoological Congress which met at Budapest, Hungary, September 4th to 9th, 1927, adopted a very important amendment to article 25 (Law of Priority) which makes this article, as amended, read as follows (italicized type represents the amendment roman type represents the old wording):—

It has been shown that turkeys (Ransom, 1921, and Ortlepp, 1923) and starlings (Lewis, 1925 and 1926) play an important rôle in the distribution of gapes disease.

The writer has found three apparently new species of trematodes in the newt, Triturus viridescens Rafinesque. The newts were collected near Durham and Lakeview, North Carolina, and a study is being made to determine if there is any seasonal periodicity in the occurrence of their parasites. It is of interest that one trematode, Opisthodiscus americanus, is the first species of its genus to be reported for North America. Only one species of Brachycælium has been reported previously for North America and another, B. trituri, is described in this paper. A new species, Gorgoderina intermedia, is also described.