A brief description of Nematodirus battus has been given elsewhere (Crofton and Thomas, 1951), but this included only sufficient details for specific diagnosis. A more detailed account is given below.

The worms are long, slender and more or less straight. The cuticle is smooth except in the cephalic region where it is inflated and is lightly striated. The cephalic inflation extends 0.12 mm. from the anterior end and is 0.06 mm. in diameter (see Fig. 1). In some specimens the cephalic inflation may be reduced and relatively inconspicuous. Although this variation may be due to fixation, it occurs in members of a batch which have been fixed simultaneously. The head is 0.03 mm. in diameter and bears six papillae round the mouth. The “mouth capsule” is small and bears a tooth on the dorsal side. This tooth is not easily visible in Fig. 1 because of contraction of the oesophagus. (The term mouth capsule is retained because it has been used by other workers (see Rajewskaja, 1918, Travassos, 1987) but if the definitions of Baylis and Daubney (1926) are adopted it would be more correct to refer to the tooth as lying in an oesophageal funnel). The oesophagus is relatively short, 0.35–0.54 mm. in length.

Research on cysts of the potato-root eelworm is handicapped by the fact that the cyst contents vary considerably in quantity. So it is impossible to characterize the infectivity of a soil sample by determining only the number of cysts present. Though not all larvae are hatched from the cysts in one season, a better impression of the infectivity is got when we know how many living eggs and larvae are present in the cysts.

Oostenbrink (1950) estimates the number of living eggs and larvae by crushing each cyst separately under the microscope. Especially when a large number of cysts is present, this technique takes much time. During our research this estimation appeared to be very subjective; it was almost impossible to get a clear impression of the viability of the cysts, especially when many mouldy or empty eggs were found.

Fenwick (1952) developed the bleaching powder technique in which the presoaked cysts are dissected by means of a Hagedorn-needle (Reid, 1952) and for 80 minutes are exposed to a nominal 1 per cent, solution of bleaching powder. This solution helps to break up the egg masses within the cut cysts and to free the larvae from their egg shells. Thus the larvae and eggs may be counted. Using this method some difficulties have been met with. Working with three samples of filtered bleaching powder solution, several cysts were found containing a large number of unseparated eggs, thus giving counts which were too low.

Echinostephilla virgula occupies an isolated position in the Digenea; apparently it does not belong with certainty to any of the existing families and, as the original description is incomplete, it was considered worthy of re-description. This trematode was found frequently at St. Andrews between the months of September, 19–19, and March, 1951, in the intestine of the Turnstone (Arenaria interpres Linn.). There was usually a heavy parasitism, fifty to one hundred worms being found in one host. However, in spite of frequent examinations of birds shot after this period, no further specimens were found.

Looss created the genus Philophthalmus in 1899 for flukes infesting the eyes of birds. Twelve species of trematodes have been recorded from the eyes of avian hosts in different parts of the world, but hitherto none has been described from India. The following account deals with the description of two new species of Philophthalmus which were recovered from birds of prey in Hyderabad.

Parabronema skrjabini Rassowska, 1924 was originally described from Russian Turkestan and is known to occur in that region in cattle, camel, sheep and goats. The parasite is also known from okapi (Leiper 1985) dying in the Zoological Gardens, London, and Nubian ibex and Giraffe (Ezzat, 1945) from the Zoological Gardens, Giza, Egypt. A closely related species was described and recorded, respectively, by Vuylsteke, 1985 (Parabronema okapiac) and Leiper, 1985 (Parabronema okapi) from okapi. Van den Berghe and Vuylsteke (1987) reduced P. okapiae to the status of a variety of P. skrjabini.

Ostertagia trifurcata was first described by Ransom (1907) from sheep and goats in United States. It has since been reported from various other countries and appears to have a world wide distribution. This species is recorded from India for the first time, in the present paper.

In Great Britain, O. trifurcata was first recorded by Boulenger (1914) but his record seems to have been overlooked by Travassos (1987). It has also been reported from sheep and goats in different parts of Great Britain by Morgan (1925), Jones (1926) and Oldham and Morgan (1984). All these workers report the occurrence of this species in association with Ostertagia circumcincta. Elsewhere, the association of O. circumcincta and O. trifurcata has been reported by Tetley (1984) from New Zealand, Ransom (1911) from United States, Gebauer (1982) from Germany and Saquenet (1946) from Algeria. In my collection from India (Kangra District), O. trifurcata,is present in small numbers together with O. circumcincta which is always the predominant species. In a collection of helminths from Cyprus in the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine a few O. trifurcata were found in association with a large number of O. circumcincta.

A case of human infection with Physaloptera causing an abscess in the neck of a patient in Hyderabad is recorded. The structure of one of the worms recovered, a female, is described and compared with that of other species recorded from mammals in India, but in the absence of the male it is not possible to determine the species.

An echinostome obtained from the kidney of the North American White Pelican, Pelecanus erythrorhynchos is described as a new species, Allechinostomum renale.

Allechinostomum is regarded as a valid genus.

A differential key to the four-known species of the genus is appended.

In this study two new species are added to the only known species in the genus Serticeps.

Serticeps buckleyi sp. nov. was found under the horny layer of the gizzard of the Eastern Beautiful Sunbird, Neclarinia pulchella incidipectus from Uganda. Serticeps osmanhilli sp. nov. was also found under the horny layer, from a Yellow-winged Sugar Bird, Cyanerpes cyaneus from Brazil.

The genus Serticeps is amended.

The positions adopted by C. doricha Rothschild, 1985 during swimming and resting periods are described.

A sharp decrease in the amount of swimming carried on by the cercariae was shown to occur in the first few hours. A change of activity from long swimming and long resting periods to irregular swimming and resting was also demonstrated. The active life of these cercariae was found to be from two to three days.

The possible vertical distribution of C. doricha in the sea is tentatively discussed.

The geographical and host distribution of 32 specíes of helmínths found in a survey of 254 carcases of 13 species of British small mammals is given.

A description of Echinorhynchus rosai Porta, 1910 from three specimens found encysted in the liver and mesentery of a hedgehog, Erinaceus europaeus, corresponds in most respects with that originally given by Porta. Comments are made on the unusual location of the parasites and on other species from the same host.

Four species of helminths, two Trematoda and two Cestoda, were collected post-mortem from an otter (Lutra lutra) killed in the suburbs of Edinburgh.

Plagiorchis (Multiglandularis) lutrae n. sp. was recovered from the small intestine. This is the first record of Plagiorchis sp. from an otter.

Cryptocotyle lingua (Creplin, 1825), 38 specimens, was recovered from the anterior and middle thirds of the small intestine. This is the first record of C. lingua from an otter.

Dibothriocephalus medius n. sp., a single specimen, was recovered from the small intestine. This is the first record of Dibothriocephalus sp. from an otter.

Schistocephalus solidus (Muller, 1776), four specimens, was recovered from the small intestine. This is the second record of Schistocephalus sp. from an otter and the first record of its occurrence in this host in Britain.

Worm egg counts have shown that after the end of June infestations of pathogenic significance occur in a considerable percentage of Scottish hill lambs. On the West Coast, however, heavy infestations do not occur until August, when the egg counts in other areas are rising again after falling for a few weeks in July.

Identification of larvae from faeces cultures confirm that Ostertagia spp. are the first cause of high worm egg counts, followed in August by Trichostrongylus spp., then by H. contortus and C. ovina, and finally by B. trigonocephalum. Nematodirus spp. may be sufficiently numerous in a few districts to be of pathogenic importance in June and July.