Parasitology, Harold W. Manter Laboratory of
Date of this Version
1927
Document Type
Article
Citation
Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia (1927) 79: 49–163
Contributions from the Zoological Laboratories of the University of Illinois, number 294 (1927)
Contributions of Knox College Biological Laboratories, number 30 (1927)
Abstract
Through the courtesy of Dr. Henry Baldwin Ward of the University of Illinois, and of Dr. J. Percy Moore of the University of Pennsylvania, the extensive nematode collection assembled by the late Joseph Leidy, and now housed in the museum of the University of Pennsylvania, has been made available for critical study and the present report is the first of a series covering this material. The writer wishes to express his hearty appreciation of the kindness of these two men, and also of that of Dr. Joseph Leidy, Jr., in making this opportunity possible. To make the study more complete Dr. Moore secured the loan of an additional collection of some fifty vials of material belonging to the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, and which came to them through Dr. Henry C. Chapman who had received the material from Dr. Leidy. Dr. Chapman was one of the most enthusiastic of those who supplied Dr. Leidy with much of the material upon which the latter based his studies in parasitology.
The Leidy collections consist largely of parasites obtained from American hosts, although a few are from foreign hosts held in captivity in this country at the time the worms were obtained. The larger number of the specimens were unidentified, but in most cases where identification was indicated, it was that given by Dr. Leidy himself. Not only are many known species represented in the collection but examples of many of the original Leidy species are also present. Unfortunately, Dr. Leidy seldom indicated type specimens, and often failed to keep examples of the new species he established. As a result, it has been possible in but a few cases to designate type material of his species, and in these cases the evidence is largely circumstantial in that the date of collection, the host, and the name of the collector, are the only data.
In 1894, Stiles and Hassall made a summary of the parasites contained in the Leidy collection, including this in a paper listing the specimens available in various Government collections, as well as those of the larger private collections. The list of the Leidy specimens is repeated here in order to check the presence of these originally named specimens in the collection now available for study, and also to determine those now named which are of a later date than 1894. This comparison shows unfortunately the absence of a number of species present at the former checking. In their paper of 1894, Stiles and Hassall indicated their intention of making a detailed study of the species represented, but up to this time no report on those from the Leidy Collection has appeared.
Comments
Public domain material