Worms belonging to the genus Ascaris occur occasionally in the small intestine of sheep and lambs and have been reported both in Europe and America. They have been considered by some to belong to a distinct species, namely Ascaris ovis Rudolphi, and by others to be identical with Ascaris lumbricoides Linnaeus. The question of their specific identity is an interesting one and could not be considered as definitely settled one way or the other and though possibly the majority of helmin-thologists would subscribe to the view that the species is A. lumbricoides (vide Ransom 1911, p.25, and Ransom and Foster 1920, p. 30), others hold a different view; in fact Neuveu-Lemaire (1923) has recently published a paper in which he describes a single specimen of Ascaris from a goat as Ascaris ovis.

In investigating the occurrence of helminthic parasites of wild birds it must be borne in mind that birds are migratory animals so that their parasites may be carried over a wide area. Also it is known that the intermediate hosts of bird helminths are in many cases very widely distributed and that in other cases species nearly related may act as alternative intermediate hosts.

Tænia echinococcus has always been recognised as one of the most important tapeworms of carnivores, both from the human and the economic point of view. Its intermediate stage, or Hydatid, assumes many forms, but most modern workers believe that all these forms—with one possible exception, the alveolar form from Central Europe—are merely the manifestations of a single species.

Recently (1924) Chandler has described from the duodenum of a Bennett's Wallaby (Macropus bennetti), a new genus of Trichostrongylidæ. Shortly after the publication of this paper, the writer was privileged to study what appears to be a second new species from the same host. The parasites are very small forms and occur mainly in the stomach, but are also found occasionally in the first part of the small intestine. A few specimens of Chandler's species were also present.

Out of a large number of diseased potatoes sent by a merchant to this Institute and to the Ministry of Agriculture Pathological Laboratory, Harpenden, suspected of eelworm disease due to Tylenchus dipsaci, only one tuber was found by Mr. Buckhurst of the latter laboratory to contain eelworms; all the others, although presenting a naked-eye appearance extremely like that shown by tubers attacked by T. dipsaci, were entirely negative. This tuber was sent to the writer for his opinion on the nema-todes living in it with the result that what appears to be a new genus has been found. It resembles members of the genera Tylenchus and Aphelenchus in that it has a mouth stylet with swellings at its base and might at first sight be mistaken for a representative of one of these genera, a fact which renders a description of it all the more necessary, but differs from them in several morphological details.

As a result of complaints received from farmers as to the presence of parasitic worms in sheep, an attempt was made during the period October 1923 to September 1924 (inclusive) to ascertain the distribution and relative abundance of the more usual parasitic worms inhabiting the alimentary canal of sheep in North Wales. Regular collections were made from the following centres:—Pwllheli, Carnarvon, Bangor, Conway and Llandudno, with a few records also from Colwyn Bay, Bethesda, Menai Bridge and Denbigh. All the sheep examined were slaughtered for food purposes, practically the whole being obtained from slaughter houses. Almost all had grazed for considerable periods on the farms in the district mentioned, at elevations varying from sea level to 600 feet.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries awarded the writer a special research grant to continue the investigation of the helminth parasites in the alimentary tract of sheep and other ruminants in North Wales.