FLAGELLATE FAUNA OF CGECUM OF SQUIRREL. 2Q3 



Trichomonas muris (Hartmann) var. citelli. This flagellate 

 was encountered in only three out of twenty ground squirrels. 

 It is a common inhabitant of the coecum of albino, house, and 

 wild mice. The form from the ground squirrel, however, so 

 closely resembles in its important features Wenrich's (1924) 

 description of T. muris that it is considered to be at least a 

 variety of this species. Furthermore, the chromosome count 

 agrees with the number which Wenrich found in T. muris. The 

 size of T. muris on prepared slides, according to Wenrich, ranges 

 from 8 to 22 micra, with an average of 12.9 micra. The average 

 of the body length of 100 individuals from the ground squirrel, 

 not including the protruding axostyle, was 17 micra, somewhat 

 larger than Wenrich's measurements. 



The reader is referred to Wenrich's excellent account for the 

 detailed description of this species. A rhizoplast connecting the 

 nucleus and blepharoplast was seen by the writer in some cases. 

 Andrews (1925) also saw it in T. termopsidis. One other rather 

 unimportant respect in which the form from the ground squirrel 

 differs from Wenrich's description is in the arrangement of the 

 "inner row of chromatic granules." In the form studied by the 

 writer the granules in this area constitute a field rather than a 

 linear series (Fig. 13). In some specimens a small granular body 

 was noted near the anterior end, although Schaudinn's fixative 

 was used (Fig. 13). This was interpreted to be the parabasal 

 body, as described by Wenrich. What the writer saw was evi- 

 dently a residue left after the mitochondrial substance had been 

 dissolved out. This parabasal body, however, does not stain 

 intra vitam with Janus green. 



Large numbers of dividing individuals were found. The 

 writer has nothing to add to Wenrich's account. Several good 

 chromosomes counts were made at the anaphase (Fig. 14) and 

 prophase (Fig. 15). The number was six, in agreement with 

 Wenrich. There seemed to be in most cases a fairly definite size 

 range for the prophase chromosomes from one large chromosome 

 down to a very small one (Fig. 15). Multiple mitosis or somatella 

 formation of the nature of that observed and described by Kofoid 

 (1915) was not seen in this material. 



Trichomonas sp.? This small flagellate was present usually in 



