The young of all nest dwelling birds are fed continuously by their parents. It is the latter therefore who choose the food which is mostly composed of that which the adult birds feed on. Under these circumstances it is therefore not surprising that fledglings when still in the nest are found to harbour helminths of which the larval forms were contained in the food.

The authors describe Trichosomoides nasalis n.sp., parasitic in the nasal cavities of Epimys norvegicus and propose to modify slightly the definition of the family Trichosomoididae Yorke and Maplestone, 1926, especially in relation to the definition of the habitat (considered till now to be exclusively in the urinary tract).

Bilharziasis is unquestionably one of the major parasitic diseases of Southern Africa where both the urinary and intestinal forms occur. When it presents in the classical form, the diagnosis either from the clinical or laboratory viewpoint is seldom a major problem; but when, as so often happens, the presenting features have little in common with the accepted text-book descriptions of the disease, diagnosis becomes a matter of considerable difficulty.

A volunteer who had been previously exposed to infection with filarial infections from naturally infected animals, i.e., Brugia malayi from Macaca irus and B. pahangi from a domestic cat, was exposed to infection with B. malayi from man. He developed signs and symptoms of tropical pulmonary eosinophilia and transitory swellings of the lower limbs, possibly of filarial origin. Up to the time of treatment with Banocide no microfilariae were found in his blood.

Leiper in 1908, created the sub-family Trichostrongylinae in his new family Metastrongylidae, for those small intestinal bursate nematodes without a buccal capsule. It included the genera Trichostrongylus, Haemonchus, Nematodirus, Cooperia and Ostertagia. In 1912, he raised the status of this sub-family to family rank as Trichostrongylidae Leiper, 1912. All the original genera in this family have a double ovarian system in the female; Heligmosomum described by Railliet and Henry in 1909, has a single ovary and in 1914, Travassos created a new sub-family Heligmosominae for this and related species.

1. Helminth parasites may be important causes of disease and death among game birds, both among penned stock and in the field. S. trachea is probably the most important, but species of Heterakis follow closely, having both a direct and an indirect effect. T. tenuis must be considered as potentially important and may be responsible for much loss when the right ecological factors are present.

2. It is clear that game farmers will need to pay careful attention to methods of controlling the spread of helminths: in particular, to prevent the spread of T. tenuis, which can build up quickly to epizootic proportions on restricted areas where the bird population is high. Pheasants are potential hosts of this species and the death rate could easily be serious under careless management.

3. The presence of poultry near or with penned birds is fraught with danger as many helminths have a wide host distribution among related gallinaceous birds. Thus species of Capillaria and Heterakis which normally cause little trouble among poultry, can cause death and disease among game birds.

4. The few wild chicks examined were interesting. There is a heavy loss of wild chicks but only rarely are dead ones seen so that little is known about the cause of this loss. Adverse weather conditions and predators no doubt are important, but it is obvious from the few cases reported above, that S. trachea and H. isolonche may also be causes of considerable importance.

5. Many old birds are carriers of parasites and contaminate the ground with ova. Thus young stock with no resistance may well pick up lethal infestations, if they are allowed to graze land previously used by old birds.

1. Excystment of the metacercariae of Fasciola hepatica by perforation of the inner cyst was witnessed, but the factors which control activation of the larva remain undetermined.

2. Excystment occurred in two instances when cysts were administered to mice by intra-peritoneal injections, active young flukes being recovered.

3. Excystment occurred when cysts were administered to one week old chicks and free flukes were recovered from the abdominal cavity in three instances, but liver lesions were not observed.

4. By means of photomicrographs an attempt has been made to demonstrate that young flukes feed primarily on hepatic cells and that they show a preference for this diet. Blood is inevitably included in the diet of young flukes, but it is claimed that these are not truly blood feeders.

5. Young flukes recovered from the liver of the mouse range in length from about 0·3 mm. at 3–4 days to 4·85 mm. at 28 days from the time cysts were administered (per os). This accords fairly well with data obtained by Sinitsin and by Schumacher in respect of flukes from rabbits and guineapigs respectively.

A half a century ago, R. T. Leiper described a new species belonging to the genus Fasciola from specimens which he collected from hippopotami at the Murchison Falls, on the Victoria Nile in Uganda, in the summer of 1907. This species, Fasciola nyanzae, was found in the bile ducts of the liver, and in most instances the specimens were somewhat macerated owing to the length of time that had elapsed before the animal could be recovered from the water. Nevertheless, the characteristic shape of these liver flukes and the restriction of the branched testes to the anterior third of the body made it possible to recognise them as being different from all other species of the genus known at that time.

Despite many recent advances in the study of nematicides and in the breeding of resistant strains of plants, control of cyst forming nematodes is still best accomplished by crop rotation; to be fully effective, it is also desirable that a field in which it is proposed to grow a susceptible crop should be sampled and an estimate made of the population of nematodes present: such an estimate is susceptible to different sources of error and although it is possible to decrease the magnitude of these errors a compromise has to be reached between the conflicting claims of precision on the one hand and the expenditure of man-power on the other; it is desirable that this compromise be based on factual data rather than guesswork; good estimates of the order of magnitude of the different types of error are therefore desirable.

Mortality in England and Wales from helminth infections as recorded in the London Bills of Mortality from 1630 to 1755 and in the Registrar-General's Annual Reports from 1837 to 1880 is analysed.

Roots of oats grown on sandy loam in Norfolk were observed by E. B. Brown of the National Agricultural Advisory Service, Cambridge, to have small galls associated with proliferation of the lateral roots. Close examination showed the presence of female Meloidogyne in the galls. The nematodes differed in some respects from the generally-known species and specimens were sent to the author for study.

Les conceptions concernant les propriétées de la cortisone et l'ACTH ont beaucoup évolué. On considérait ces hormones commenuisibles dans les infections bactériennes et parasitaires puisque leur principale propriété est de neutraliser la réaction inflammatoire, histiocytaire et macrophagique. Or dans beaucoup de cas on a observé des résultats favorables dans différentes infections, et on a fait remarquer que plus le processus septicémique est sévère, meilleur est l'effet obtenu. Dans les infections à protozoaires sanguicoles les résultats sont extrèmement divergents même chez l'homme.

Confusion exists about the true nature of the guiding apparatus surrounding the spear in Dorylaims. Thorne and Swanger (1936), commenting on the guiding ring, say: “There are at least two types; the collapsible cylindrical form with cutinized borders that give the appearance of a “double” ring such as that of Dorylaimus stagnalis (Fig. 2A), and the single muscular ring as found in D. obscurus (Fig. 2E). From the guiding ring a thin sheath envelops the spear to its base”.

Study of a series of lower vertebrates and 2 primates infected with Schistosoma haematobium has revealed their egg producing or egg passing potentials. Viable eggs were not passed by albino or wild rats (R. rattus), or by hedgehogs (Hemiechinus). In hosts passing eggs the counts were not great but data do suggest host-parasite relationships which permit continuance of the parasite cycle. Egg passage was erratic and tended to follow a normal curve, i.e., few eggs at first, building up to a peak period after which the counts usually diminished. There was no close correlation between the sites of egg deposition along the intestinal tract and the numbers of egg produced. The peak of egg production was irregular in time after first egg detection as well as in duration. There was wide range in the percentages of viable eggs passed by different hosts and by individuals of the same species. Data reveal the possibility of lower vertebrates serving as reservoirs should satisfactory circumstances allow.

As an old student of Emeritus Professor R. T. Leiper it gives me great pleasure to contribute something for the Anniversary number. It was indeed an ordeal for me to decide what to contribute in honour of this famous man who is happily still with us.

The widespread distribution in Britain of the grey squirrel prompted an investigation of the parasite fauna of this rodent to find if it was capable of acting as a disseminator of parasites to other mammals or birds, particularly domesticated ones.

Helminths from wild animals are from time to time submitted to Onderstepoort for identification and comment. Among this material are two lots of worms from carnivores which are of particular interest. One lot contains an undescribed Rictularia sp. from a Genet which is remarkable for the number of worms, over 30, collected from a single host; as a rule the number of Rictularias collected from an individual animal is very limited consisting of no more than three or four specimens and then usually only females are present. The other lot from a mongoose is of interest because of the location of the worms—liver—and their number—about 60; this parasite also appears to be new to science.

By exposing potato plants in pots to a graded series of inocula of cysts of Heterodera rostochiensis, effects on the plant host have been investigated in terms of growth of shoots and tubers. High inocula reduce both criteria severely, but it appears that longer shoots and a larger weight of larger tubers are produced by plants exposed to a very low inoculum than by uninfested controls.

Effects on final eelworm population show that multiplication is highest at the lowest inocula but that the net highest population results from a moderate inoculum. Thus, the kind of inoculum which would stimulate crop yields, would also lead to a large eelworm population: highest potato yields were associated with an eelworm multiplication factor of about ten-fold.

The stimulus for the hatching of infective eggs of Ascaridia galli in vitro depended upon the concentration of undissociated carbonic acid plus dissolved gaseous carbon dioxide, the oxidation-reduction potential, and the hydrogen ion concentration. There was considerable overlap in the conditions which favoured the hatching of eggs of Ascaridia galli and Ascaris lumbricoides; both would be expected to hatch in the small intestine of a suitable species of host.

Four male specimens of this species were once collected from the white necked Stork, Dissoura episcopus episcopus. The worms occurred under the horny layer of the gizzard.