468 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



Cockroach's Parasites.* — C. Janicki describes the structure and 

 life-history of three parasites found in the hind-gut of Perijrtaneta orien- 

 talis — Lophomonas blattarum Stein, L. striata Biitsehli, Amo&ba blattse 

 Biitsehli. 



Flagellates in Blood of Fresh-water Fishes.f— E. A. Minchin 

 discusses some trypanosoraes and trypanoplasms of fresh-water fishes 

 which he studied at the Sutton Broad Laboratory in 1907 and 1908. 

 The first part of his paper is devoted to an instructive discussion of the 

 methods and technique employed. The author believes that drying the 

 films deforms the parasites, more especially the trypanoplasms ; he re- 

 commends fixation with osmic vapour, if the Romanowsky stain is to be 

 employed. He is, however, dissatisfied with the misleading effects pro- 

 duced in the nucleus by this stain, and points out that the results ob- 

 tained with Heidenhain's iron-hamiatoxylin (after Schaudinn's sublimate- 

 alcohol or an allied fixative) are quite different, and probably much more 

 trustworthy. Then follow general remarks on the parasites — their 

 movements and structure. The author successfully demonstrated the 

 myonemes in the trypanosomes of the perch and eel with the aid of iron- 

 haematoxylin. The extraordinary disparity in size between different in- 

 dividuals in the same blood was not satisfactorily accounted for — in 

 some cases appearances favoured the sexual hypothesis, in others — e.g. 

 T. granulosum — they suggested growth-stages merely. The rarity of 

 dividing forms is commented on, and the suggestion made that multipli- 

 cation may take place in the internal organs of the fish. Experiments 

 on the mode of transmission by leeches gave negative results. 



This interesting paper concludes with detailed descriptions of 

 Trypanosoma percse Bruinpt, T. granulosum Lav. and Mesn., T. retnaki 

 Lav. and Mesn.. T. tincse Lav. and Mesn., T. abramis Lav. and Mesn., 

 Trypanoplasma abramidis Bruinpt, and Trypanoplasma borreli Lav. and 

 Mesn., and in addition two new trypanoplasms are described,— Trypano- 

 plasma gurn&yorum sp. n., from the pike, and Trypanoplasma Tceysselitzi, 

 sp. n., from the eel. 



Trypanosomes of Cold-blooded Animals.} — G. Bouet finds a 

 trypanosome in Sternotherus derbianus, which he regards as distinct 

 from that which Robertson found in Emyda vittata. In Tropi- 

 donotus ferox Giinther there is a parasite like Trypanosoma rotatorium 

 or mega of the frog. Two species of trypanosome have been reported 

 from lizards of the genus Mabuia ; the author reports another new form. 

 There are two in a toad, Bufo regularis, and T. toddi occurs in the fish 

 Clarias anguillaris. 



Influence of Alcohol on Life-cycle of Infusoria. § — Lorande L. Wood- 

 ruff has experimented with Stylonkhia and Paramecium. The chief 

 results are the following : — (1) Minute doses of alcohol will decrease the 

 rate of division at one period of the life-cycle and increase it at another. 

 (2) When alcohol increases the division rate, the effect is not continuous, 



* Atti (Rend.) R. Accad. Lincei Roma, xvii. (1905) pp. 140-51. 

 t I 'roc. Zool. Soc. London, 1909, pp. 2-30 (4 pis.). 

 t C.R. Soc. Biol. Paris, lxvi. (1909) pp. 609-11. 

 § Biol. Bulletin, xv. (1908) pp. 85-104. 



