The female only of this species is known. It measures 16 to 20 cm. in length and 0·5 mm. in breadth, and is of a whitish or brownish tint. The cuticle is striated with fine transverse and more marked longitudinal striæ with the exception of a small field surrounding the mouth, which is terminal and has neither papillæ nor lips. The œsophagus measures 0·6 mm. in length. The anus is 3 mm. in front of the rounded posterior extremity, and behind it there are two (glandular?) sacs. The vulva is close behind the oral aperture; the vagina soon divides into two convoluted uteri, which are filled with eggs and embryos. Embryos 350 µ by 5·5 µ.
This species (115 mm. long) was first observed in Milan by Dubini in the eye of a man; subsequently it was observed, encysted and calcified (190 mm. long), by Babes in the gastro-splenic omentum of a woman in Budapest, and finally one (95 mm. long) was extracted by Vadela from a tumour the size of a pea in the ocular conjunctiva of a woman in Catania (Sicily), which case has been described by Addario. Possibly Agamofilaria palpebralis, Pace, 1867 (nec Wilson, 1844), and A. oculi humani, v. Nordm., 1832, are the same species.
Fig. 287.—Filaria (?) conjunctivæ: anterior end greatly magnified; the mouth with the pharynx in the middle; in the cuticle on the right side the opening of the vagina, and behind it the excretory pore. (After Grassi.)
Filaria (?) conjunctivæ is certainly only an incidental parasite of man; the horse and ass are its normal hosts, but it is not common in these animals, or is frequently confused with Hamularia equi, Gmelin, 1789.
Group. Agamofilaria, Stiles, 1906.
Not a generic but a group name for immature Filariidæ the development of which does not admit of generic determination.
Agamofilaria georgiana.