618 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



Myonemes of Protozoa.* — A. Prenant in attempting a phylogenetic 

 survey of the evolution of muscular elements has begun naturally with 

 the so-called myonemes of Protozoa. He brings together in an inter- 

 esting way the longitudinal fibrils or striatums of Stentor, Burmria, 

 Prorodon, &c. ; the usually transverse myonemes of Gregarines, longi- 

 tudinal in Glepsidrina bJattarum, Selenidium, and Platycystis ; the com- 

 bination of longitudinal and circular fibrils in various Flagellates, 

 and so on. 



Multicilia lacustris Lauterborn.f — E. Penard has made some ob- 

 servations on this interesting form — a spherical or sub-spherical, Helio- 

 zoon-like, multinucleate Flagellate. The 2-7 nuclei lie close together 

 in a clear central endoplasm ; the general plasma contains numerous 

 gametes of Pandorina morum which are captured in a very characteristic 

 way. 



Penard finds a delicate peripheral layer or " periplast " (Wassiliewsky 

 and Semi) composed of specially differentiated plasma. He discusses 

 in detail the little round grain or " blepharoplast " at the base of each 

 fiagellum. Is it a kinetic centre, a centrosome, or a point of insertion ? 

 The author cannot at present accept or reject any of the three possible 

 interpretations. 



Observations on Monas vulgaris.! — P. A. Dangeard finds that in 

 this species, readily obtained from infusions of hay, the fission is longi- 

 tudinal and accompanied by a rapid growth in the anterior region, and 

 that the nucleus divides indirectly by a teleomitosis comparable to that 

 in Chlamydomonads. The blepharoplast and the " rhizoplast " are very 

 clear in this species, and the former may be compared to a centrosome 

 since it remains included in the ectoplasm during the teleomitosis. 



Parasite of Texas Fever.§ — V. Babes has been forced to recall 

 attention to the fact that in 1888 he discovered and described the 

 peculiar parasite — midway between Bacteria and Protozoa — which causes 

 the hemoglobinuria of cattle known as Texas Fever, Tristeza, &c, and 

 the " Carceag " of sheep. 



Myxosporidian Parasite of Geophilus. || — Howard Crawley de- 

 scribes Nosema geophili from the intestine of Geophilus. The irregular 

 form and multinucleate condition of this new Sporozoon indicate a 

 position among the Myxosporidia. Its occurrence as a free form in an 

 Arthropod seems to warrant placing it, at least provisionally, in the 

 genus Nosema. The observation is interesting in view of the fact that 

 this is the first recorded case of a myxosporidian being found in a 

 myriapod. While Geophilus is parasitised by a Gregarine (Rhopalonia 

 geophili), by a Coccidian (unidentified), and by this new myxosporidian, 

 infection is only occasional. The comparative immunity is doubtless 

 due to the solitary habit of this centipede. 



* Arch. Zool. Exper., 4th ser., i. (1903) Notes et Eevue, No. 6, pp. c.-civ. (2 figs.). 



t Revue Suisse Zool., xi. (1908) pp. 123-49 (1 pi.). 



X Comptes Rendus, cxxxvi. (1903) pp. 319-21. 



§ Ceutralbl. Bakt. Parasitenkunde, 1" Abt., xxxiii. (1902) pp. 449-58 (4 figs.). 



|| Proc. Acad. Sci. Philadelphia, 1903, pp. 337-S (4 figs.). 



