ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 187 



Affinities of Blastulidium pgedophtorum.* — E. Chatton has studied 

 this parasite which Ch. Perez found in the eggs and young partheno- 

 genetic embryos of Daphnia obtmct. It was found on species of 

 Simocephalus, < 'hydorus, and Lynceus, and Chatton has seen enough of 

 it to enable him to say that it must be removed from among the 

 Haplosporidia and placed among the Chytridinese. 



Structure and Movements of Condylostoma patens.f — John F. 

 Bovard has studied this large Ciliate. He describes the thin, transparent, 

 homogeneous, very elastic pellicula ; the hyaline threads or myonemes 

 which form the primary ridges marking the surface ; the cilia which 

 arise from furrows along the sides of the myonemes ; the membranellae 

 which seem to arise from a fusion of rows of cilia ; the broad, thin, trans- 

 parent, undulating membrane which lies in the buccal groove and is 

 attached at the base of the right oral lip : and so on. 



The movements of the animal are directly dependent on the shape 

 of the body. Normally the animal moves in a circle to the left when 

 gliding. This is caused by the bend of the posterior end of the body 

 towards the left. The spiral swimming is the result of the curvature of 

 the body, and not wholly dependent on the oblique position of the cilia. 

 The motor reaction is the same as for other Protozoa. It consists of a 

 backward movement, a turning toward a structurally defined side, and 

 then a movement forward. It is of the same type in cut pieces as in 

 whole individuals, but is modified by the form of the pieces. 



Trichocysts of Frontonia leucas.J — A. Brodsky finds relatively large 

 trichocysts in this Infusorian. Each shows three parts— head, neck, and 

 body. After expulsion from the ectoplasm they increase ten or twelve 

 times in length. They appear to arise in the deeper parts of the endo- 

 plasm near the nucleus. In contact with water the trichocyst becomes 

 like a flattened sphere, and is the subject of violent agitation. A spiral 

 line is seen in its interior, which uncoils with extreme rapidity into a 

 long thread with the debris of the envelope as a minute body at one end. 



Trichomastix serpentis.§ — C. Clifford Dobell describes this new 

 species of flagellate Infusorian from the rectum of a boa-constrictor. 

 It is perhaps the same as Grassi's 3fonocercomonas coronellce, Hammer- 

 schmidt's Cercomonas colubrorum, Monocercomonas colubrorum, and Bodo 

 colubrorum. It is usually oval or pyriform in shape ; it has three 

 flagella at the anterior end directed forwards, and another longer flagellum 

 directed backwards ; there is a basal granule (like a Trypanosome's 

 blepharoplast) at the origin of the flagellum ; a flexible axial rod runs 

 through the animal ; there is a well-marked cytostome. 



The creatures are very active. They divide longitudinally, and the 

 details of the division are described. In the degenerative processes, 

 leading on to death, giant forms twice the normal size were sometimes 

 observed, and these divided abnormally, commonly giving rise to three 

 or four daughter-cells. 



* C.R. Soc. Biol. Paris, lxiv. (1908) pp. 34-6. 



t California Univ. Publications, Zool., iii. (1907) pp. 343-G8 (1 pi. and 21 figs.). 



j Arch. Sci. Phys. Nat. (xxiv.) (1907) pp. 644-5. 



§ Quart. Journ. Micr. Sci., li. (1907) pp. 449-58 (1 pi. and 2 figs.). 



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