730 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



corps has hitherto hidden their true affinities. These are revealed by a 

 study of their skeletal architecture, and in the light of this the author 

 revises the species, adding a new one, G. magna. 



Endogenous Multiplication of HsBmogregarina sebai. * — A. 

 Laveran and A. Pettit point out that in this Gregarine — a parasite of 

 Python sebai — there is notable variation in the endogenous multiplica- 

 tion according to the position of the cysts — in the lungs, liver, or other 

 organs. Thus cysts with two or four merozoites are common, and 

 others with thirty or more. But this does not indicate male and female 

 elements nor two species, for the two sets are connected by " a dis- 

 concerting: series of intermediate forms." 



'6 



Piroplasmidse.t — C. Fran 5 a believes that there is need for the 

 erection of a special family Piroplasmidae. He gives the following 

 definition : endoglobular Hasmatozoa, exhibiting at one of their phases 

 an oval or pear-like form, never showing any pigment, multiplying by 

 division, distributed by Ixodidae. The family includes five genera — 

 Pyroplasma Patton, Theihria Bettencourt, NicolJia Xuttall, NutalUa 

 g. n., and Smithia g. n. 



Intestinal Stage of Sarcosporidium.J — L. Negre fed mice with 

 mouse-muscle infected with Sarcosporidia. The fascal matter of these 

 mice infected healthy mice. In the food-canal of a mouse, whose fasces 

 were infective, there were found Protozoon cysts resembling the sporo- 

 blast stage of Sarcosporidia. The intestinal stage, proved experimentally, 

 has not been actually demonstrated as such, but it is probable that this 

 Protozoon cyst represents part of the life-history. 



Miescher's Bodies. § — J. Fiebiger discusses the nature of these 

 bodies that occur in the muscles of herbivores, such as ox and sheep, 

 pig and horse. The envelope with its appearance of rods is not an ecto- 

 plasmic envelope of the Miescher's body : it is modified muscular tissue. 

 The sickle-like corpuscles arise by a peculiar transformation from the 

 sporoblasts. There is subsequently a multiplication of the sickles by 

 longitudinal division. The sickles break down both in the centre and in 

 the periphery of the Miescher's body. The muscle-nuclei are stimulated 

 to increase, movement, and change. 



* Comptes Reiidus, cli. (1910) pp. 182-5. 



t Bull. Soc. Portugaise Sci. Nat., iii.(1910) pp. 11-13. 



X C.R. Soc. Biol. Paris, lxviii. (1910) pp. 997-8. 



§ Verb. Zool. Bot. Ges. Wien, lx. (1910) pp. 73-88 (4 figs.). 



* i =^»»- 



