Remarks on a fluke parasitic in the copper-head snake / by D. McAlpine.

  • McAlpine, Daniel, 1848-1932.
Date:
1891
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Remarks on a fluke parasitic in the copper-head snake / by D. McAlpine. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    Reproductive System.—This is rather complicated, as is usual in hermaphrodite animals. Male Organs.—The testes are two roundish, or oval, conspicuous, compact, sac-like bodies, on the right and left sides of the body, each inside and slightly anterior to the club-shaped termination of the intestine. Leading from each is a t'os deferens, both of which pass close together on one side of the ventral sucker, and immediately in front of it merge into the vesicula seminalis. This is an elongated body, extending in an oblique direction, nearly to the hinder part of the oral sucker, where it terminates in a relatively large transversely oval opening. Sometimes the anterior end is protruded, and a glairy-looking mass discharged from the mouth which sticks together. Female Organs.—These oi'gans collectively form the most prominent feature in the body. The ovary is situated iDehind the ventral sucker, and the uterus filled with its ova having reddish-brown shell-cases., gives its colour to the bulk of the body. About two-thirds of the length of the bod)^ is occupied by it, and it opens at the anterior end just behind the oral sucker, and alongside the termination of the vesicula seminalis. The 3^olk-glands form numerous dark-grey clusters on either side of the body, extending from a little in front of the ventral sucker to near the posterior end of the body. Their numei'ous branching ducts unite to form a main duct on either side, and there unite in the middle line. The shell-gland from which the uterus arises, is situated a short distance behind the ventral sucker in the median line. It is a globular glandular mass. The ova are of an elongated oval shape, and the shell opens by a lid. Details will be given in a future communication.