Planorbis leucostoma Millet has been found to be a natural intermediate host for Paramphistomum hiberniae in the Channel Islands.

Nine genera, listed on pages 122–128 are recognized in the subfamily Rhabditinae Micoletzky, 1922, in place of three genera recognized by Osche (1952) in his recent revision of the genus Rhabditis Dujardin [1844] (sensu lato). Two of the genera—Pelodera Schneider, 1866 and Rhabditis (sensti stricto)—are subdivided into four and five subgenera respectively. One genus—Brevibucca Goodey, 1985—is accepted only provisionally in the Rhabditinae. The genus Neorhabditis Schuurmans Stekhoven, 1954 (syn. Pararhabditis Schuurmans Stekhoven, 1951; non Baylis and Daubney, 1926) is regarded as not belonging in the Rhabditinae

1. Observations carried out on four groups of sheep during the spring of 1954 are described.

2. A spring-rise in the worm-egg output was found to occur in all the groups studied.

3. The management of the animals precluded rcinfestation during the spring and, in two instances, from 8th January and 22nd, respectively.

4. Time of lambing and nutritional level appeared to influence the onset and magnitude of the spring increase.

An account is given of observations on the occurrence of nematodes of the genus Meloidogyne in the Gold Coast. It includes a list of seventy-six host plants, both cultivated and wild, suitable for the sustenance and multiplication of the parasites as well as comments on the reactions of these various plant species to invasions of their root tissues. Many of the host plants listed constitute new records and the data submitted point to the conclusion that the root-knot eelworm has been long established in the Gold Coast.

1. A method of management of sheep at pasture is described which appeared successful in preventing reinfection by nematodes parasitic in the alimentary tract, with the exception of Strongyloides papillostts.

2. A significant depression of liveweight gain was observed, due to a sub-clinical infestation in lambs at pasture.

3. Reseeded pasture sown on land that had carried sheep 11 months before appeared to be worm-free.

Experiments on larval emergence in a series of constant temperatures showed that, of those temperatures tested, 25°C. was the optimum. Results suggest that constant temperatures do not provide optimum conditions for larval emergence and that a higher rate of emergence may occur under fluctuating temperatures. The rate of larval emergence in beet diffusate increased as the initial oxygen concentration increased. Pre-treatment of cysts at low oxygen concentrations reduced the subsequent emergence in diffusate.

In July, 1952, carrots growing in the Chatteris area of the Isle of Ely were found to be attacked by Ditylenchus dipsaci. The preceding crop had been wheat and for the previous twenty years the crop rotation of the field had been carrots, potatoes and wheat with an occasional crop of celery. There have been two previous records of stem eelworm attack on carrots in this country, both from the Chatteris area, the first in 1981 and the second in 1941.

1. Thirteen different species of helminth parasites were encountered in eighteen ducks (six Muscovy and twelve Khaki Campbells) on a farm in Berkshire. Of these parasites, four were trematodes, five cestodes, three nematodes and one Acanthocephala.

Hymenolepis collaris, Trichostrongylus tennis and Filicollis anatis are recorded from the domestic duck in Britain for the first time. Hymenolepis anatina and Hymenohpis abortiva are recorded for the first time in England.

1. The method of maintaining schistosomes in vitro is described in detail.

2. Observations made on cultured S. mansoni are given.

3. Investigation of glycogen content shows that there is no significant difference between the reserve of glycogen in fresh and cultured worms. It is suggested that the worms do not rely on their reserve of glycogen but can take up carbohydrate from the medium.

4. The method could be adapted for the culture of other helminths besides schistosomes.

It is well known that the first two larval stages in the life cycle of nematodes belonging to the superfamily Strongloidea, have a freeliving existence. During this time, the larva which hatches from the egg feeds actively, undergoes two moults and grows considerably before reaching the infective stage, when it is ready to invade a definitive host. Under natural conditions this external development takes place in the faeces, which have been deposited by the infected host on ground likely to be contaminated with various bacteria.

The present paper is a report on a collection of helminths collected from gazelles from Tanganyika Territory. It comprises one species of trematode, Paramphistomum microbothriwn; one species of a larval cestodc Taenia hydatigcna; eleven species of nematodes, Trichuris spiricollis; Haemonchus contortus; Trichostrongylus probolurus; Gazellofilaria tanganyikae; Cooperioides antidorca; Paracooperia serrata; P. daubneyi; Longistrongylus meyeri; Impalaia nudicollis; Gazellostrongylus lerouxi gen. et sp. nov. (Trichostrongylidae) and Protostrongylns gazellae sp. nov. The seven last mentioned species are all new records for the gazelle.

Taliaferro and Sarles (1939) who studied the cellular reaction in the skin, lung and intestine of normal and immune rats after infection with N.muris, stated that “larvae were found penetrating the skin from a half hour through two hours after they had been placed on the skin. They seemed to penetrate directly…” Yokogawa (1922) observed that this parasite when placed on the skin of rats, penetrated into the tissues very quickly. He did not specify any time for their entrance.

By kind permission of the Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History) the writer has had the opportunity of studying some tapeworms collected from a Greenland Salmon (Salvelinus alpinus subsp. ?) from Ottostrand, East Greenland, in August 1948 by Hjalmar Fleischer of Oslo. The material was found in the “gut” and contained about thirty specimens of an adult Diphyllobothrium, which appears to be new, along with specimens of Diplocotyle olrikii Krabbe, 1874 and Eubothrium crassum (Schrank, 1790).

A collection of parasitic worms was made from Rattus rattus jarak (Bonhote) from Pulau Jarak, “which lies in the middle of the Malacca Straits between Penang and Port Swettenham and some 85 miles from the Sembilan Islands opposite the Dindings.” (Audy, 1950). It was collected by Dr. J. R. Audy, Senior Research Officer of the Division of Virus Research and Medical Zoology, Institute for Medical Research, Kuala Lumpur while investigating scrub-typhus on the island.

Methods are discussed for greatly increasing the cyst content of Helerodera-intested soil, so that very little soil need be “floated” to provide the number of cysts necessary to form a replicate in bioassay. Such a “float” contains very little debris and may be used directly, thus avoiding the laborious and time-consuming step of separating the cysts from the debris. An apparatus for quick recovery of the “float” is described.