Sexual transmission occurs commonly in microparasites such as viruses and bacteria, but this is an unusual transmission route for macroparasites. Here we present evidence which suggests that a nematode parasite of Wood Mice (Apodemus sylvaticus) may be sexually transmitted and we have classified the nematode using molecular data. Wood Mice were collected annually in the course of work on their reproductive physiology. Larval nematodes were found in the epididymides of 19·6% of males. It seems likely that they would be transmitted to females at ejaculation. To identify these larval nematodes, which we were unable to do using morphological features, we sequenced the 18S rDNA. Sequence comparisons with the molecular phylogeny of Blaxter et al. (1998) demonstrated that they were bursate nematodes (Order Strongylida). The relationships between strongylid taxa were poorly resolved by 18S rDNA. However, both distance and parsimony analyses grouped the nematode with the superfamily Metastrongylidea in a clade containing Filaroides and Angiostrongylus sp. Importantly, the sequences were distinct from those of Heligmosomoides polygyrus and Angiostrongylus dujardini, two common strongylid nematodes of Apodemus. We were therefore unable positively to identify these worms by matching their sequences with those from morphologically identifiable adult strongylid nematodes infecting Apodemus. These results demonstrate that an as yet unidentified strongylid is quite commonly found in large numbers in the male reproductive tract of Wood Mice. Further work is required to understand the biology and transmission dynamics of this interesting system.

The experiments with warble-fly larvae, taken in conjunction with the evidence of Carpenter and Gläser, lend support to the view that they gain an entrance through the skin.

The hypothesis is advanced that the larvae select the gullet for reasons connected with their development and growth. These may be: a freer supply of oxygen, and a loose areolar tissue which offers comparatively little resistance to them.

The position of the larva under the hide is horizontal. In this position the skin movements affect it but slightly, or less than if the position were perpendicular.

H. lineatum does not terrify cattle as does H. bovis, the fly was seen ovipositing and the animals showed little uneasiness during the process.

The seasonal activity of H. lineatum is earlier than that of H. bovis.

Observations were made on oviposition which confirmed those of Riley and Gläser.

Two experiments were tried with larvae, to see if they would penetrate the hide, but no definite results were obtained.

Further proof is afforded of the terror which H. bovis inspires in cattle. It was observed that animals, exhausted by running, occasionally lay down and became more or less indifferent to the attacks of the fly. On these occasions the eggs were laid higher up on the host's body.

The genus Ischnopsyllus Westwood, comprising at the moment sixteen species and subspecies, is rather a heterogenous group. Although I am reluctant to split this relatively small genus, a certain degree of division is unavoidable. First, I. grahami Waterston certainly does not belong to the genus Ischnopsyllus, and since this species does not fit any other genus of bat-fleas, a new genus has had to be erected for it (see below, where a new subspecies of grahami is also described). Secondly, the hexactenus-group of Ischnopsyllus is sufficiently distinct from the rest of the genus to make it desirable to restore, as a subgenus, the genus Hexactenopsylla Oudemans, which was synonymized with Ischnopsyllus by Dalla Torre in 1924.

Two species of coccidia have been found in captive Felidae examined by us in Russia:

(1) Isospora felis Wenyon 1923, in lion, tiger and lynx.

(2) Isospora rivolta (Grassi 1879), in tiger, leopard and jungle cat.

The attempts of Chorine (1938), Gavrilov (1938), Gavrilov, Bobkoff & Laurencin (1938) and Rita (1940) to infect chick embryos with Plasmodium gallinaceum, using either a suspension of sporozoites or infected blood, yielded negative results. They tried inoculation by deposition of the infecting material on the chorion-allantois or by injection into a blood vessel of this membrane, and the negative results observed led Rita to make various deductions by comparing them with other infections which appear in the embryo and not in the adult animal.

Introduction. In a previous paper (1914, p. 217) I gave, in tabular form, the features which serve to distinguish the two genera Calliobdella van Beneden and Hesse 1863, and Trachelobdella Diesing 1850, which Johansson 1898, pp. 672–675 has also given reasons for distinguishing.

1. Two pure strains of Entamoeba coli, differing in their accompanying bacterial flora and experimental history, but identical morphologically, have been tested with emetine hydrochloride in vitro.

2. In a buffered and wholly liquid medium, with a pH varying between 6·8 and 7·2, emetine hydrochloride was found to be toxic to E. coli in dilutions between 1 : 300,000 and 1 : 600,000, the toxicity increasing with the alkalinity of the medium.

3. It is therefore concluded that emetine is about 16 times as toxic in vitro to E. histolytica as it is to E. coli.

Mongolian jirds, Meriones unguiculatus, are susceptible to infection with Trypanosoma grosi, which naturally parasitizes Apodemus spp. The present study investigated T cell dependence of elimination of T. grosi from the bloodstream of jirds by in vivo T cell depletion using a monoclonal antibody (HUSM-M.g.15). In T cell-depleted jirds, elimination of T. grosi, particularly the dividing forms, from the bloodstream was significantly delayed, occurring at around week 3 p.i. The kinetics of serum levels of IgM and IgG specific to trypanosomes in T cell-depleted and control immunocompetent jirds were different; peak levels of IgM were noted on days 6–8 p.i. around the time of peak parasitaemia (day 6 p.i.) in immunocompetent jirds, whereas the serum levels began to increase abruptly after day 10 p.i., peaking at around day 18 p.i. in T cell-depleted jirds. Similarly, serum IgG increased after day 6 p.i. in immunocompetent jirds, in contrast to after day 12 p.i. in T cell-depleted jirds, and the level increased steadily even after disappearance of parasitaemia. Our findings indicate that T cells play a major role at least in the ‘first crisis’ during elimination of dividing T. grosi from the bloodstream.

Owing to the courtesy of Docent W. Stefanski, University of Warsaw, I have had the opportunity of studying some Nematoda collected by him from the large intestine of an elephant which died hi the Warsaw Circus.

In March 1932, while examining the gut contents of Bufo melanostictus, I came across a species of coccidian in two specimens. On consulting the literature, I found that while five species of Eimeria have been recorded from the intestinal region of anurous amphibians, none of them corresponds with the one I have observed. Moreover, I notice that for no one of these five species has the whole life history been described.

This species has received so few notices from collectors of parasitic Copepoda that it might be judged uncommon. Thus Krøyer (1837), originally placed it in the genus Lernaeopoda having but a single specimen at his disposal the host of which he had forgotten; subsequently it has been recorded by Olsson (1869), who was the first to place it correctly in the genus Brachiella. This species has also been recorded by P. J. van Beneden (1870), by T. Scott (1901), by A. Scott (1904), and collected by L. Harrison Matthews, as mentioned by me (1926), at Plymouth.

The case described in this note is believed to be unique, for no similar record has been found after search of the relevant literature. The subject of myiasis has been carefully reviewed and abstracted by Huber (1899), Umaña (1915) and Bedford (1927), and no cogent references of more recent date have been discovered.

In lactating rats examined 3 weeks post infection, adult Nippostrongylus brasiliensis were found in the duodenum close to the pylorus. Worms migrated from the predilection site, shown by Brambell (1965) and Alphey (1970) to be approximately 25% down the intestine, during the second week of infection. A similar migration took place in neonatally infected rats.

It was suggested that the migration was an active response to immunological damage. It could be prevented by early betamethasone treatment but only modified by treatment given late in infection.

The activities of glycolytic and related enzymes and the tricarboxylic acid cycle enzymes were measured in freshly isolated 1st- (Li), 2nd- (L2) and 3rd-stage (L3) larvae of both Ancylostoma tubaeforme and Haemonchus contortus. All enzymes of the glycolytic pathway were present in all developmental stages of both strongylid nematodes although higher levels of activities were obtained in the pre-infective 1st- and 2nd-stage larvae than in the infective 3rd stage. However, the pre-infective larvae contained lower levels of pyruvate kinase (PK) than the infective larvae. Consequently, the pyruvate kinase to phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) ratios were 0·23 and 0·26 for the L1s and L2s for A. tubaeforme and 0·36 and 0·21 for those of H. contortus respectively. High levels of activity of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase obtained in the bacteriophagous pre-infective larvae were consistent with high rates of morphogenesis and substrate synthesis characteristic of the pre-infective stages. All the tricarboxylic acid cycle enzymes were present in the infective larvae of both nematodes while in the pre-infective Li and L2 stages, the enzymes at the beginning of the cycle, namely aconitate hydratase and NAD-linked isocitrate dehydrogenase, were not detected. A scheme was proposed for the energy metabolism of these developing larvae. In this scheme, the pre-infective larvae were shown to operate an anaerobic metabolic pathway involving the carboxylation of phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) by phosphoenolpyru vate carboxykinase (PEPCK) to form oxaloacetate (OAA), whereas in the infective larvae the metabolic pathway favouring the direct dephosphorylation of PEP, as in vertebrate tissues, was followed.

A short description is given of an important disease of sheep (Scrapie, Traber-krankheit, La Tremblante), believed to be caused by a heavy infection with Sarcocystis tenella, probably of increased virulence.

The itchiness and paresis, the congenital transmission by the mother, the non-contagiousness, the long incubation period, etc., are readily explained on this view and a method of control of the disease based on this theory has been highly successful.

The sarcocyst has been shown to be transmitted from sheep to sheep by intrauterine infection and by means of the milk.

The minute structure of the sarcocyst is described and it has been shown in particular that the sickle-shaped spores are surrounded by a capsule. Under certain conditions, as in 1 per cent, glucose water and in the centre of the ripe cyst, these spores swell out and become globular, eventually bursting and scattering small chromatin granules. The further evolution of these granules is dealt with.

The spread by means of milk and by the intestinal route is discussed1.

Cyclosporin A (CsA) is a widely investigated experimental anti-parasitic drug whose mode of action remains unresolved. The immunosuppressive action of CsA depends on the drug binding to the intracellular receptor cyclophilin (CyP). This study investigates whether complexing of CsA with parasite CyP is equally essential for its anthelmintic action. The correlation between initial cyclosporin-induced damage in vitro and drug binding to parasite CyP has been examined. CsA and the analogues B-5-49, CsH and CsA-acetate all induced similar damage to the tapeworm Hymenolepis microstoma in vitro in incubations between 2h and 4 days. The initial foci of drug damage were the parasite surface and mitochondria in the syncytium. In a competitive binding assay only B-5-49 displaced [H3]-CsA from either crude parasite cytosolic CyP or affinity-purified CyP while CsH and CsA-acetate had no effect. These data suggest strongly that cyclosporins act on the surfaces of helminth parasites but that drug action does not involve complex formation with CyP. An alternative drug-binding site must therefore be identified which may lead to the rational design of novel anthelmintic drugs.

798 cattle from the Ikoma area, Musoma district, were examined for evidence of trypanosomiasis and the predominant trypanosome species involved.

From the results, the extent of cattle trypanosomiasis in Ikoma and the predominance of congolense-type infections as compared with vivax-type infections was established.

The need to use more than one method in the diagnosis of animal trypanosomiasis is emphasized from the results presented in Table 3.

The direct relationship between the poor health of the cattle and T. congolense infections demonstrates the economic importance of this trypanosome species as compared with T. vivax. This relationship also supports results of earlier work showing that in East Africa congolense-type infections produce more serious clinical trypanosomiasis in cattle than do vivax-type infections. This is important when drawing up a treatment programme.

1. In all species of the fusca group of tsetse flies (Glossina), except G. brevipalpis Newstead, a gelatinous structure, the genital fossa, is present at the anterior end of the uterus. On the surface of the genital fossa is a toughened structure known as the signum.

2. Probably chitin and certainly calcium are present in the substance of the signum of G. tabaniformis Westwood. An opaque concretion develops on the signum after the female has been fertilized. The concretions may be caused by a reaction between sperms or secretions from the male accessory glands and materials in the substance of the genital fossa; the possibility that the concretions are ‘mating scars’ produced by pressure of the harpes of the male on the signum is considered unlikely. Concretions are not present on the signa of all species.

3. A possible mechanism of fertilization in G. tabaniformis is discussed, and it is suggested that the signum may act as a protective shield for the anterior part of the uterus and common oviduct of the female from the harpes of the male which are inserted into the uterus during coitus. The views of Machado (1959) are discussed and it is agreed that the signum probably acts as a protective shield in all species in which it occurs and differences in the form of the signum between species may be related to differences in the form of the harpes of the male.

I wish to thank Dr J. Williamson for chromatography, Dr L. E. Stephen and Mr K. E. Broomfield for advice and assistance with the sectioning of the signa, Dr F. Peers for operating the Flame Photometer, Dr D. G. Godfrey for suggesting that the signa should be examined for calcium, and Mr W. Petana for taking the photomicrographs.

I am indebted to Dr K. C. Willett, Director of the West African Institute for Trypanosomiasis Research, for criticism of the manuscript.