William Nicoll

The Trematode Parasites of North Queensland. III.: Parasites of Fishes

During the past year a considerable number of fishes has been forwarded to the Institute for examination. The great majority have been marine fishes obtained from Cleveland Bay, or from the reefs off Magnetic Island, but a few fresh-water fishes from local creeks have also been included.

A Reference List of the Trematode Parasites of British Mammals

As a subject of investigation the Trematode fauna of British Birds does not appear to have aroused at any time much enthusiasm amongst British zoologists and as a result we owe the greater part of our knowledge of the subject to continental workers. The fact that our bird fauna is practically identical with that of the adjacent parts of Western Europe would lead us to expect that the parasites of our birds should not differ materially from those met with in the same species of birds on the continent. As a matter of fact, no species of bird Trematode hitherto recorded from this country can be regarded as peculiar to Britain, with the possible exception of Echinostephilla virgula Lebour, which, however, will almost certainly be met with in other localities later.

The Trematode Parasites of North Queensland. IV. Parasites of Reptiles and Frogs

The preparation of the fourth part of this paper was brought to an abrupt conclusion in November, 1915, by an illness which necessitated my return to a cooler climate. On that account the present part is incomplete, several new and interesting forms being left undescribed. These, together with the species described here, are deposited in the collection of the Australian Institute of Tropical Medicine.

A Reference List of the Trematode Parasites of Man and the Primates

The Trematode parasites of man have been so frequently listed and, for the most part, so fully described in various text-books and treatises on parasitology, pathology and tropical medicine that it might seem superfluous to enumerate them again. My object in doing so is to provide a basis for comparison with the parasites of the Primates, our knowledge of which is still extremely fragmentary, and with the parasites of Mammals in general. It is hoped that the works which are cited will prove to be the most useful or the most authoritative original references available.

On two new Trematode Parasites from British Food-fishes

In September, 1908, an opportunity was afforded me of examining some of the larger food-fishes brought in to Aberdeen fish market. For this I have to thank the courtesy of Professor J. Arthur Thomson, who kindly provided the necessary laboratory accommodation, and was of great assistance to me in various other directions. I have also to thank the Government Grant Committee of the Royal Society for defraying the expenses of procuring specimens.

Dolichopera macalpini n. sp., a Trematode Parasite of Australian Poisonous Snakes

In 1911, I received from Dr Georgina Sweet of Melbourne University, two lots of Trematodes stated to have been collected respectively from the intestine of the tiger snake, Notechis scutatus , and the lungs of the copperhead snake, Denisonia superba . In 1916, Dr Burton Cleland, of the Bureau of Microbiology, Sydney, sent me two tubes containing similar parasites, obtained from the peritoneum of an unidentified snake killed on Flinders Island.

The Blood Volume in Ankylostomiasis. With some Biological Notes relating to the Disease.

In these experiments the hook-worm anaemia of dogs does not appear to be exactly analogous to the corresponding disease in man, but differs from it in two essential particulars, namely, that only young animals suffer and that in them its course progresses much more rapidly to a fatal termination. Older dogs, although not altogether insusceptible, acquire infection only to a moderate extent, which gives rise to a minor degree of anaemia. From this they gradually recover, even in spite of repeated and continued attempts at re-infection. The anaemia in young dogs was characterised by great loss of weight, emaciation, prostration and intestinal haemorrhage, but in no case was expistaxis observed. The blood volume of dogs suffering from the minor degree of hookworm anaemia is not materially altered, but if anything is somewhat diminished. The oxygen capacity of the blood per unit of body weight is also, on the average, somewhat decreased. Infection is generally accompanied by distinct though not profuse haemorrhage, which is most marked in the early stages, but tends to disappear. Eosinophilia was not a constant sign either of infection or of disease. Evidence of blood regeneration was furnished by the appearance of large numbers of erythroblasts (normoblasts) which increased with the progress of the disease. Cats are much less easily infected than dogs, and monkeys are altogether insusceptible. Man, also, were found to be insusceptible to infection with the dog hook-worm.