NationalLibraryOfScotland/medical-history-of-british-india huggingface dataset:
NEMATODE PARASITES OF GOATS AND SHEEP
253
It appears that the function of all these structures is to aid in the process of
copulation.
It is my pleasant duty in the end to record here my appreciation of the help
given to me by Mr. Sunder Rao Bhutgoswami, the Artist of this Institute, in
getting the illustrations ready.
All the specimens have been deposited in the helminthological collection of
the Imperial Institute of Veterinary Research, Muktesar-Kumaun, United Pro-
vinces, India.
EXPLANATION OF PLATES.
Plate XVII, Fig. 1. Varestrongylus pneumonicus; Anterior end, dorsal view X 168.
„
Fig. 2. Varestrongylus pneumonicus ; Bursa of male, slightly ventro-lateral view X 193.
„
Fig. 3. Varestrongylus pneumonicus ; Dorsal and externo-dorsal rays of bursa X 415.
„
Fig. 4. Varestrongylus pneumonicus ; Gubernaculum X 415.
„
Fig. 5. Varestrongylus pneumonicus ; Posterior end of female X 277.
Plate XVIII, Fig. 1. Dictyocaulus unequalis ; Anterior extremity X 193.
„
Fig. 2. Dictyocaulus unequalis ; Bursa of male, lateral view.
„
Fig. 3. Ostertagia orientalis; Spicules of male, ventral view.
„
Fig. 4. Ostertagia orientalis ; Bursa of male.
Plate XIX, Fig. 1. Ostertagia orientalis; Female, ventral view. m. ovj. muscular portion of ovijec¬
tor ; nm. ovj. non-muscular portion of ovijector ; sph. sphincter; v. vulva x
27.
„
Fig. 2. Ostertagia orientalis ; Female, lateral view, showing posterior flap X 128.
Fig. 3. Ostertagia orientalis ; Female, lateral view, showing anterior flap over vulva X
110.
„
Fig. 4. Ostertagia orientalis ; Egg. X 193.
Plate XX, Fig. 1. Hæmonchus coitortus ; Female with no structure near vulva X 83.
„ Fig. 2. Hæmonchus contortus ; Female with a flap represented by a small protuberence
over vulva X 83.
„ Fig. 3. Hæmonchus contortus; Female with a flap resembling the head of a bird over
vulva X 40.
„ Fig. 4. Hæmonchus contortus; Female with a well developed linguiform flap and a
cuticular boss X 56.
„
Fig. 5. Hæmonchus contortus ; Female with a single boss anterior to vulva X 84.
„ Fig. 6. Hæmonchus contortus ; Female with a boss on each side of vulva laterally X 84.
REFERENCES.
Baylis, H. A. (1928). On a collection of Nematodes from Nigerian mammals. Parasitol. 20, 280
—304.
Gaiger, S. H. (1915). A revised check-list of the animal parasites of domesticated animals in India.
Journ. Comp. Path. Ther. 28, 67—76.
E
254 THE INDIAN JOURNAL OF VETERINARY SCIENCE AND ANIMAL HUSBANDRY [II, III
Gedoelst, L. (1923). Le genre Metastrongylus Molin, 1861. Bull. Soc. Path. Exot. 16, 622—630.
Ransom, B. H. (1911). The nematodes parasitic in the alimentary tract of cattle, sheep and other
ruminants. U. S. Dept., Agri., Bur. Anim. Ind., Bull. 127, 1—132.
Le Roux, P. L. (1929, 1). Two species of Hæmonchus Cobb, 1898, parasitizing the Camel in the Cape
Province. 15th Ann, Rep. Dir. Vet. Serv. Onderpoort, Pretoria, 439—450.
——(1929, 2). A preliminary report on three new members of the genus Hæmonchus Cobb,
1898, from Antelopes in South Africa. Ibid, 451—464.
Veglia, F. (1915). The Anatomy and Life-history of Hæmonchus contortus, 3rd and 4th Rep. Ibid,
347—500.
Yorke, W. and Maplestone, P. A. (1926). The nematode parasites of vertebrates. London, XI †
536 pp.
PLATE XXI.
FIG. 1. Cercaria saundersi : showing a few anatomical details.
FIG. 2. Photo micrograph of the cercaria.
CERCARIA SAUNDERSI, N. SP.
BY
M. ANANT NARAYAN RAO, G.M.V.C.,
Lecturer in Parasitology, Madras Veterinary College, Madras.
(Received for publication on 20th June 1931.)
(With Plate XXI.)
The study of larval trematodes found in the fresh water molluscs of India has
not received much attention apparently. Sewell [ 1922 ] published his valuable
work on Cercariae indicae wherein he has described about fifteen furcocercous
cercariae and has classified them. Soparkar [1921], who restricted himself only to
furcocercariae, has described only about five of such found in Bombay. All those
include the Pharyngeal and Apharyngeal furcocercus cercariae. The present paper
deals with an apharyngeal one.
The behaviour of this larva in a tube of water is peculiar. It adheres to the
sides of the tube quite firmly with its powerful ventral sucker, occasionally swims,
tail foremost, and often in Spasmodic jerks. The larvae do not go down to the
bottom of the tube, but remain resting in the vicinity of the snail from which they
came. This shows that they are not powerful swimmers. They are positively
prototrophic.
Each larva has two black vestigial eyes with transparent convex lenses directed
upwards and outwards. The whole length of a living cercaria varies from 0.8 mm.
to 1.0 mm. In a fixed larva the body measures 300 μ × 75 μ, the tail stem 400 μ
× 35 μ and each furcal ramus 225 μ. The body and the tail are covered over
with fine spines, more on the body than on the tail. The ventral sucker is also
armed with spines. The snout or anterior organ is about 90 μ in length and the
posterior portion is muscular. There is a single head gland. The mouth is
terminal or slightly sub-terminal and is connected with a delicate tube which runs
down the snout and is followed by a fine tube in the anterior portion of the body
without apparent dilatation or bifurcation. This constitutes a simple alimentary
canal. There appear to be six hollow spines situated terminally on the snout,
three on each side and into these the three pairs of mucin glands open by means
of stout ducts." Among these mucin glands, the two anterior ones which surround
the ventral sucker have coarse granules and the two posterior pairs, which almost
fill the posterior region of the body have fine granules in them. There are two
masses of nervous system laterally between the eyes and the snout, and a few
( 255 )
256 THE INDIAN JOURNAL OF VETERINARY SCIENCE AND ANIMAL HUSBANDRY [II, III.
granules, in a mass, behind the ventral sucker which represent the future genital
system.
The excretory system is made up of the anterior and posterior lateral ducts,
or collecting tubes, which unite to form two main tubes which open into a small
rounded excretory vesicle at the hind end of the body. There are two patches
of cilia in each main excretory tube behind the union of the anterior and the
posterior collecting tubes. On each side of the body there are seven flame cells
including the one in the tail. In each half of the body they are distributed as
follows:—
In the anterior portion there is one flame cell postero-lateral to the snout,
one behind the eye, and another antero-lateral to the ventral sucker. In the pos-
terior portion there is one flame cell postero-lateral to the ventral sucker, one
lateral to the " eyelet " aperture and another midway between these two. The
" eyelet" aperture is the opening into the excretory canal of the tail stem. A
little behind this opening are the flame cells of the tail stem.
The ventral sucker is an interesting organ. It is muscular, protrusible and
has six bands of muscle which run from it and are attached dorsally and laterally
to the body wall. The sucker protrudes so much that one often gets the larva on
its side when examining it between a slide and coverslip.
The tail stem is longer than the body with a fairly wide canal running through
its length. The furcal rami have narrow and delicate finfolds running nearly
two-thirds of their length from the free end. There is a constriction at the junc-
tion of the rami with the tail stem. The canal in the furcal ramus opens to the
outside at its tip in a barrel-like extremity.
The parthanitae are sporocysts which are long, lightly yellow in colour and
contain plenty of dark granules. No birth pore could be observed nor the
excretory system. The sporocysts showed movement resembling peristalsis.
These carcariæ were obtained from Limnea accuminata (Lamarck) found in the
Spur Tank, Egmore. About 4 per cent. of them were found infected and in four
instances these were associated with Echinostome cercariae in the same snail.
The characters of the cercaria described can be summed up as follows:—
1. The anterior organ is muscular posteriorly.
2. Alimentary canal is more or less a capillary tube.
3. Pigmented eyes with lenses.
4. Ventral sucker powerful, with muscular bands extending to the dorsal and
lateral body wall.
CERCARIA SAUNDERSI, N. SP.
257
5. Mucin glands large with stout ducts connected with penetrating spines on
top of the anterior organ.
6. The furcal length is more than one half that of tail stem.
7. The furcae have narrow finfolds.
8. Development in long sporocysts.
The characters summed up above seem to be common to those cercariae of the
" Elvae group" described by Miller [1927]. Therefore this cercaria is placed in
that group.
It resembles C. macrosoma Brown [1926] in having a spinose body and in
having muscular bands between the ventral sucker and the walls of the body. The
flame cell formula is similar. It differs from it in having three pairs of mucin
glands, and in having the opening in the tips of the furcal rami.
It resembles C. milleri Fast [1926] in many respects, but differs from it in the
flame cell formula and in the number of mucin glands. Further C. milleri is
aspinose.
It resembles C. tuckerensis Miller [1924] in having a capillary alimentary canal,
but has no intestinal ceca. The number of mucin glands and flame cells is different
in C. tuckerensis.
It is interesting to note that only one cercaria, C. bombayensis No. 19, Soparkar
[1921], found in India has been included in that group. The cercaria in question
differs from this in the flame cell formula, and in possessing finfolds on the
furcal rami.
The cercaria described seems to be a new species, and it is proposed to name it
" Cercaria saundersi."
Attempts were made to infect a white rat, a fowl and a frog (Rana tigrin)
with these cercariae with a view to obtain adults, but the results were
unsuccessful.
SUMMARY.
1. Cercaria saundersi, n. sp., is an apharyngeal longifurcate cercaria having
finfolds on its furcal rami.
2. In its body there are three pairs of mucin glands round a protrusible ventral
sucker supported by bands of muscle which run from it to the dorso-ventral walls.
3. The anterior organ is muscular posteriorly and the alimentary canal is only
a capillary tube.
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258 THE INDIAN JOURNAL OF VETERINARY SCIENCE AND ANIMAL HUSBANDRY [II, III
4. The excretory system has 6 pairs of flame cells in all. There are two patches
of cilia in each main excretory tube.
5. This cercaria is placed in the " Elvae group " described by Miller [1927].
6. The cercariae are obtained from Limnea acuminata Lamarck.
REFERENCES.
Brown, T. J. (1926). Some freshwater larval trematodes with contributions to their life histories.—
Parasitology XVIII, 21—34.
Miller, H. M. (1927). Furcocerous larval trematodes from San Juan Islands, Washington.—Parasito-
logy XIX, 61-83.
Sewell, Seymour, R. B. (1922). Cercariae indicae.—Ind. Jour. of Med. Res. X, supplement.
Soparkar, M. B. (1921). Notes on some Furcocercariae from Bombay.—Ind. Jour. of Med. Res. IX,
23-32.
CERCARIA KYLASAMI, SP. NOV.
BY
M. ANANT NARAYAN RAO, G.M.V.C.,
Lecturer in Parasitology, Madras Veterinary College, Madras.
(Received for publication on 15th March 1932.)
(With Plate XXII.)
This cercaria was obtained only from Planorbis exustus (Deshayes) during the
carly part of this year. Out of over 500 snails collected from the Spur Tank,
Egmore, only 22 discharged these cercariae. Round about Spur Tank a fairly
large number of dhobis' donkeys and other cattle are seen grazing and they all
drink water out of this tank. So far, it has been found that that tank contains
mollusca fairly heavily infected with many kinds of cercariae.
DESCRIPTION OF THE LARVA.
It is a fairly large cercaria, light brown in colour, extremely active and swims
vigorously in water with its tail uppermost. The movement is characteristic and
is common to all amphistome cercaria. The cercaria while swimming suddenly
stops all movements and elongates its body or sometimes curls it ventrally,
or contracts it to such an extent as to make it appear reniform and
swims again. When viewed under the microscope between a slide and cover-slip,
with moderate pressure, its body is lanceolate in shape, with the tail attached to
the wide end. The attachment of the tail is slightly dorsal. The body being
flexible and extensile, the measurements may not be reliable; hence a camera¬
lucida drawing of one specimen is appended with scale for making the necessary
measurements if one so desires (Plate XXII, fig. 1).
The cuticle of the cercaria is thin but fairly rough. Under it, there is a large
number of cystogenous cells containing rod-like granules and also pigment granules.
There are two conical eyes, each having a beautiful convex lens at the base of the
cone and directed upwards and outwards.
The oral sucker is at the anterior end of the body and is well developed. It
has round it a rim of cuticle with a sinuous margin. The pharynx seems to be
fused with the oral sucker making it appear elongated. There are two lateral
diverticulae at the commencement of the oesophagus, which begin in an infundi¬
buliform opening at the posterior end of the oral sucker. The oesophagus bifur-
cates into two intestinal cecae, some distance behind the level of the eyes. Just
( 259 )
F 2
260 THE INDIAN JOURNAL OF VETERINARY SCIENCE AND ANIMAL HUSBANDRY [II, III
before its bifurcation, the oesophagus becomes muscular with muscle fibres running
longitudinally. Two intestinal glands, one from each cecum, open their ducts into
a common atrium in the centre of this muscular portion. Each gland floats free in
the lumen of the intestinal cecum and is held, apparently, by the end of its duct
attached to the muscular portion of the oesophagus. Perhaps, these glands have
a digestive function. The two intestinal cecae almost reach the posterior sucker
after a fairly wavy course, the ends being bluntly rounded and not coiled up
spirally as in Cercaria indicae No. XXI Sewell [1922].
The excretory system is composed of a bladder situated in front of the pos-
terior sucker, the excretory tubules opening into it. There is one set of tubules on
each lateral half of the parasite. Each main tube can be traced from the excretory
bladder going forwards with a tortuous course and replete with excretory granules.
It turns backwards just behind the eye and with a more tortuous course it gets
broken up into smaller tubules as it turns again forwards near the posterior sucker.
The excretory granules are present in the retrograde tubule also, and they disappear,
however, in the tubules in the posterior third of the parasite. The finer tubules
and flame cells could not be traced out owing to the opacity of the body of the
larva. This opacity is due to the presence of brownish pigment and cystogenous
cells, under the cuticle. The interesting and important feature is that there is no
cross-connection between the main tubules of each side. The excretory pore of the
bladder opens dorsally. The tail is fairly wide at its junction with the body of the
larva and tapers towards its free extremity which is blunt and rounded slightly. It
is muscular and contains a few granules thrown in between the muscle fibres.
There is a caudal canal which runs from the bladder, to almost the end of the
tail where it dilates into a pear-shaped cavity, from which two small canals open
to the exterior.
The genital system is seen in the shape of two masses of cells, placed one
behind the other, about the median line in front of the excretory bladder. These
are perhaps the future testes. Another mass of cells is seen a little to the
side of the bladder and this is perhaps the future ovary.
These cercariae develop in rediae. Each redia has a mouth which leads into a
short gut full of ingested dark material. A few glands are present round about
the gut and these open in the mouth. There is a birth pore some distance
behind the oral opening. There are two pairs of locomotor appendages.
Each redia contains about three or four almost mature cercariae wanting in pig-
ment granules and five or six immature cercariae. In young rediae three
pairs of flame cells are seen. The anterior pair is a little behind the level of the
termination of the gut and the next two pairs are at the level of the anterior and
posterior pairs of locomotor appendages respectively (Plate XXII).
PLATE XXII.
FIG. 1.
FIG. 2.
C. kylasami showing excretory
system.
FIG. 3.
Redia. C. kylasami.
CERCARIA KYLASAMI, SP. NOV.
261
DISCUSSION.
Sewell [1922] divides the amphistome cercariae into two groups, (1) the
Pigmentata group and (2) the Diplocotylea group. He was able to discover only
one example, Cercariae indicae XXI, which he included provisionally under the
Diplocotylea group created by him. The characters of this group are described
by him very well and the salient points are as under :—
1. Presence of pharyngeal pouches.
2. Absence of cross-connections between the main excretory canals found
on each side of the body.
3. Presence of two pairs of locomotor appendages in the redia.
4. The cercariae leave the redia while still immature and complete their
development in the tissue of the mollusc host.
The cercaria described above presents all these points ; therefore this has been
placed under the Diplocotylea group. It differs from Cercariae indicae XXI
Sewell, in showing what look like oral diverticulae, in having excretory granules in
the main tube and also in its retrograde continuation, and in having bluntly
rounded extremities of the intestinal cecae. It is, therefore, considered that this
cercaria is different from the one described by Sewell and I propose to name it
" Cercaria kylasami."
My thanks are due to Mr. S. Vaidyanatha Mudaliar, Assistant Lecturer, for
the help rendered by him.
REFERENCE.
Sewell, Seymour, R. B. (1922). Cercariae indicae.—Ind. Jour. of Med. Res. X, 1922.
AGGLUTINABILITY OF HOMOLOGOUS AND HETEROLOGOUS
STRAINS OF BRUCELLA ORGANISMS DURING THE COURSE
OF BACILLUS ABORTUS BANG INFECTION*
BY
R. N. NAIK, G.B.V.C.,
Assistant Veterinary Research Officer, Imperial Institute of Veterinary Research,
Muktesar.
(Received for publication on 1st February 1932.)
Contagious bovine abortion has of late been receiving a good deal of attention
in the hands of veterinary workers, on account of its wide distribution, economic
importance in breeding and dairy establishments, and also in view of the close rela-
tionship which is believed to exist by some workers between the causative
organism of this disease and that of human undulant fever. The agglutination test
which is generally applied in the diagnosis of the disease was perfected by such
eminent workers in the field as M Fadyean and Stockman [1912] whilst M'Fadyean,
Sheather and Minnet [1913] compared the agglutination and complement fixation
tests and declared that the results were " broadly concordant." This finding
received an universal acceptance and the agglutination test is usually the method
resorted to for the diagnosis of this disease at present. It is, however, not un-
common to find with the antigen of certain strains of B. abortus Bang a suspicious
or only a slight agglutination reaction given by serum samples of cows having a
history of contagious abortion. A short study has, therefore, been made of the
agglutinability of different strains of the Brucella group.
Four strains have been used in the investigation. They were—B. abortus Bang
(English), B. abortus 3 (Indian), B. abortus 4 (Indian) and B. melitensis (English).
The English strain of B. abortus was obtained in 1922 from the Lister Institute
where its No. is 624. It gives a very stable antigen and is used for routine agglu-
tination tests in this Institute. The two Indian strains were isolated in this Insti-
tute in 1924 from aborted cows. The strain of B. melitensis was obtained in 1923
from the Lister Institute where its No. is 894. A study into the English strain
mentioned above and six Indian strains of B. abortus Bang had been carried out by
an agglutinin absorption test in which the three strains, viz., B. abortus English,
B. abortus 3 and B. abortus 4, have been classed in three distinct serological groups
representing the seven strains studied.
* Paper read at the 19th Session of the Indian Science Congress, Bangalore, 1932.
( 262 )
AGGLUTINABILITY OF BRUCELLA ORGANISMS
263
The antigen used in the test was prepared by growing the organisms on plain
agar medium, pH 7.3 at 37° C., emulsifying the 48 hours old growth in physiological
salt solution containing 0.5 per cent. carbolic acid and standardising the emulsion
to barium sulphate standard opacity No. 32.
A hill bull whose serum was negative when tested against the antigens of the
four strains of Brucella organisms was subjected to an intravenous injection
of 10 c.c. of a suspension of B. abortus English, matching to barium sulphate
standard opacity tube No. 8. The bull showed a good thermal reaction, the
maximum temperature being 105.0° F. on the third day of injection. The tempera-
ture reaction subsided on the 5th day and thenceforward the temperature remained
normal throughout a year, during which period the animal was kept under observa-
tion. From the fifteenth day of injection his serum was submitted to agglutination
test every two months, the results of which are stated in the following table :—
TABLE I.
Results of agglutination tests.
Date
24-1-1930
3-2-1930
16-2-1930
10-4-1930
10-6-1930
10-8-1930
10-10-1930
10-12-1930
10-2-1931
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Antigen
B. abortus
English
—
B. abortus 3
Indian
—
B. abortus 4
Indian
—
B. melitensis
English
—
Infected with B. abortus Bang, English strain.
+++
+++
+++
++
+±
+±
—
+++
+
—
—
—
—
—
+ + +
+ + +
+++
+±
+ ±
±
—
+ + +
+ + +
+ + +
—
—
—
—
+++ Positive reaction.
+ + Suspicious reaction.
+ ± Suspicious but reaction less marked.
+ Slight reaction.
± Very slight reaction.
— Negative reaction.
264 THE INDIAN JOURNAL OF VETERINARY SCIENCE AND ANIMAL HUSBANDRY [II, III
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS.
The serum of a bull infected with B. abortus Bang (English strain) gave
(1) against the homologous strain a positive agglutination reaction for about 5
months, a suspicious one for the next 5 months, and a negative one at about the end
of a year;
(2) against B. abortus 4 (Indian strain), more or less the same reaction as
against the homologous strain, but the reaction was less marked after about 5
months ;
(3) against B. abortus 3 (Indian strain), a positive reaction for a period of about
a month and a negative one for the rest of the period ; and
(4) against B. melitensis (English strain), a positive reaction for about 5 months,
and then a negative one for the rest of the period.
A serum of an animal infected with contagious bovine abortion may fail com-
pletely to agglutinate heterologous strains when the acuteness of the disease wears
off and therefore it is apparent that an early investigation should be made of all
the Indian strains of this organism, so that the agglutination test, to which sera
from aborted cows are submitted in laboratories in this country, may yield more
reliable results than those obtainable at present.
The writer desires to express his deep gratitude to Mr. F. Ware, the Director, and
Mr. H. Cooper, the Veterinary Research Officer, Imperial Institute of Veterinary
Research, under whose direction the piece of work was carried out. Thanks are
due to Mr. Balwant Singh, Veterinary Inspector, for his assistance in this work.
REFERENCES.
M'Fadyean and Stockman (1912). J. Comp. Path. & Ther. 25, 22.
M'Fadyean, Sheather and Minnet (1913). Ibid. 26,142.