Further observations on micro-filariae : with descriptions of new species / by Patrick Manson ; communicated (with a prefatory note) by the President.

  • Manson, Patrick, 1844-1922.
Date:
[1880]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Further observations on micro-filariae : with descriptions of new species / by Patrick Manson ; communicated (with a prefatory note) by the President. 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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    myself absolutely correspond. The instant I saw Manson’s figure of the “ ovum,” I recognised its identity with the empty egg- envelope found in the blood of the Australian. In the first of the two letters forming the present communi- cation, Dr. Manson describes new parasites from birds that are common in China. As he has given them no names, I have called one of these Filaria piece mediae (also found in Gracupica) and another Filaria corvi torquati. I may mention that I have already applied the term Filaria Mansoni to another worm which infests the eyes of domestic fowls in China (“ Parasites,” p. 441.) The subject of avian nematode parasites is already becoming sufficiently complicated. Long ago Dr. Sonsino, now resident at Tantah, communicated to me some account of his discovery of Micro- filarias in the Egyptian crow, and the subject has since been much extended by Lewis in regard to the Indian crow, which, if I recol- lect rightly, is the same bird by another name (Corvus splendensJ. In fact nematoid hamiatozoa have been found in a great variety of birds, and not unnaturally those found in crows have been conjec- tured to hold some genetic relation with the very common Filaria attenuata which infests, indiscriminately, crows, rooks, nutcrackers, magpies, and even also the ground woodpeckers ( Colaptince). Evi- dently we are only on the threshold of this enquiry, and the eluci- dation of the subject is beset with practically endless difficulties. In reference to the specimens sent by Dr. Manson, I regret to say that the bottle containing adult filariaj from Corvus torquatus ar- rived broken up into a hundred fragments, but the bottle on the table, as the label states, shows a number of “ Chinese magpies’ hearts, with parent filarise in the semilunar valves, both aortic and pulmonary.” The pen-and-ink illustrations sent by Dr. Manson were accompanied by brief indications of their separate nature. These I have carefully collected and arranged in such a manner as to form special plates. I have also ventured to amplify the de- scriptions in order to explain the plates made up from the sketches. The latter, though little more than outlines, have evidently been executed with great cai-e, and thus they will become especially valuable to systeinatists and others desirous of studying the genesis of avian filarite. In connection with Dr. Manson’s previous paper, I may mention that, as supplementing the ordinary and large circulation of our Trans- actions, separate copies have been transmitted to savans resident in 131