The following brief communication presents another instalment of experiments on the effects of prolonged direct transmission upon trypanosome strains kept up in the laboratory.

The differences noted between these Sarcoptes from cattle and those from the horse, described by Buxton, are as follows:

There are two lateral setae in all stages. The spines are notched or V-shaped at the ends. There are three cones in the larva as well as in all other stages. There is a pair of setae analogous to that found on the genital apron of the male at the corresponding location in the immature female. In the immature female the ridges on which are located the third ventral setae (V 3) run backward without returning forward on the opposite side. In the adult female, immature female and male, the two short setae on the terminal joint of the first leg, P 7 and 8, are represented by a single seta on the second leg. The third leg in all stages is furnished with four short setae on the terminal joint. The end joint of the fourth leg of both adult and immature females has four short setae. In the nymph none are present on the fourth leg.

With the exception of the Handbook of Braun and Lühe (1910) and two papers by Gough (1911) and Baylis (1922), very little has appeared dealing with the technique of the examination of cestodes, in particular no special methods for their rapid examination have been described. Fixing, staining and mounting, with the washing necessary at various stages in the preparation of cestodes, may occupy from two to five days. Some other quicker process is obviously needed, this it is the main object of the present paper to supply. The following methods should be understood to apply to fresh material.

The stink organs are different in structure and position in the adult and the larval stages.

The stink organs of the adult are composed of (a) a pair of glands, (b) a central reservoir with two backwardly-directed lateral reservoirs, (c) a median kidney-shaped organ in the central reservoir, and (d) a pair of lateral external openings.

Each gland is a multicellular compound structure, opening into the central reservoir. It is described for the first time in this paper.

The whole of the stink organ of the adult is formed in the last larval stage from a pair of invaginations of the epithelial lining of the body-wall.

In the larval stages the stink organs are simple glands, situated dorsally in abdominal segments III to V.

The function of the stink organs is defensive and in the adult perhaps also sexual.

Host: Xylocopa aestuans (Linn.). Locality: Lahore, India.

The gregarine described below has been found abundantly in the alimentary canal of many specimens of the carpenter bee, Xylocopa aestuans (Linn.), and is the first to be described from any Hymenopteran host. Keilin (1918), in describing Leidyana tinei in a Lepidopterous larva, remarked that no gregarines had been found till then in the two large orders of holometabolic insects: Lepidoptera and Hymenoptera. He further observed as follows: “The fact that gregarines have not been previously recorded in these two orders cannot be considered as due to lack of observation, since large numbers of these insects have been dissected for many different purposes. Possibly we can account for the infrequency of their occurrence because of the habits of the larvae of Lepidoptera and Hymenoptera. These are often parasites in other Arthropods (Hymenoptera) or they are gallicolous (Hymenoptera) or phytophagous (Lepidoptera and Hymenoptera) or they live in nests and cells (Hymenoptera).” We have examined about 200 specimens of Xylocopa and found them practically always infected.

The following is a list of parasitic Copepoda collected by L. Harrison Matthews during a fortnight's visit to Iceland in the first half of July 1922, some thousands of fish being examined at the numbered stations (St.), viz.: (1) Veetmannaeyjav (Westmanna Isles) E. 10 m.; (2) Storknaes; (3) Portland (Iceland).

Cis Bidentatus, which acts as host to this gregarine, is a small fungus-eating beetle. Almost all the beetles examined proved to be infected, but the parasites were never very numerous in each host. As a rule the infected beetles contained from four to eight of the sporont associations, and sometimes a few of the cephalont stages or cysts. The adult gregarines may be seen by transparency through the wall of the mesenteron: they lie either straight or else bent in the form of a U, but always with their long axis parallel to the sides of the gut. They are restricted to the posterior region of the midgut, and are never distributed along its whole length.

The pigeons of India are notoriously heavily infected with tapeworms and a cursory examination showed those of Rangoon to be no exception. A systematic investigation, the results of which are given in the accompanying table, was made of 20 pigeons taken from various parts of the town. Those from some localities were comparatively free from infection, others heavily parasitised. On the whole, those kept in cages and fed on corn had the greatest percentage of worms. The effect upon the health was very pronounced. Extreme emaciation and weakness were the usual accompaniment to a heavy infection. The worms were mostly situated in the duodenum, Hymenolepis nearer the stomach, Cotugnia and Raillietina further away, but this arrangement was liable to be altered. In one case, a bird on the point of death, the worms had moved nearly to the anus, some remaining free, others attached, indicating the probability under normal conditions of the cestode moving from place to place.

Eine besonders geeignete Gruppe zur Untersuchung verwandtschaftlicher Beziehungen und zur Feststellung der Wege, die bei der Art- und Gattungsbildung eingeschlagen werden, scheinen gerade die Zecken zu sein, da sie alle unter verhältnismässig gleichartigen Bedingungen leben und in nur wenige Gattungen zerfallen, die aber zahbreiche Arten aufweisen.

In Parasitology, vol. xv, p. 340 (20. ix. 1923), I described a genus of nematodes from the rabbit for which I proposed the name Obeliscus. Dr Paul Bartsch, of the Smithsonian Institution, has called my attention to the fact that this name is preoccupied, having previously been used for genera of Mollusca by Humphreys in 1797, by Agassiz in 1837, and by Beck in 1837. I therefore propose the new name Obeliscoides, type cuniculi, to replace Obeliscus Graybill, 1923.

The larvae described in this paper were obtained in 1916 by Major C. E. Southon, I.M.S., from a case of intestinal myiasis observed by him in Nairobi (British East Africa). These larvae were sent to Professor J. H. Ashworth and referred to me by Dr G. A. K. Marshall of the Imperial Bureau of Entomology.

While collecting in the Shetland Islands during August 1923, I made examinations of many marine animals in the search for protozoan parasites. Among the species examined was Echinus esculentus, and I was interested to note the presence of a large number of ciliates in the intestine of three specimens. I can find no description of this ciliate, and am obliged to believe that it has never been recorded before. This is somewhat surprising, since many of these sea-urchins must be examined every year in zoological laboratories; it is difficult to understand how such conspicuous parasites have escaped observation for so long.

The publication of this list of Reptilian Trematode parasites involves little comment. Reptiles form at most an insignificant and unobtrusive part of the fauna of this country and, apparently, few if any, investigations have ever been made of the Trematode parasites which may occur in them. I have personally examined a few snakes but with entirely negative results.

Bilharz was born on 23 March, 1825, at Sigmaringen on the Danube, where his father held a position connected with the management of the Royal estates. He was the eldest of nine children, of whom four died young. As a boy he attended the local school, where he displayed exceptional diligence and earnestness in his studies. His love of the study of nature showed itself at an early age, for he was a keen collector of plants, insects and minerals, his tastes in this direction being stimulated by constant access to a collection of natural objects formed by his uncle.

Recently the writer has had occasion to go over and help arrange the United States National Museum collection of fleas. Although not as extensive as some of the other well-known flea collections, it is invaluable of the Philippines, and of Doctor Carrol Fox, Surgeon, United States Philippines, and of Doctor Carrol Fox, Surgeon, United States Public Health Service, Two of the foremost authorities on the Siphonaptera.