52 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



Studies on Sarcodina.* — E. Penard describes various Swiss Sarco- 

 dina — Amphizonella violacea Greeff, Zonomyxa violacea Nlisslin, Placo- 

 cysiis glabra sp. u., and other forms. 



Multinucleate Amcebae.t — A. Stole describes the occurrence of 

 multinucleate forms of Ammba proteus wheu the conditions of culture 

 are altered (either scarcity or superfluity of food). The multinucleate 

 forms arise either by multiplication of nuclei or by the fusion of several 

 uninucleate individuals. They give rise by division to normal uni- 

 nucleate forms. The author calls the phenomenon " plasmodiogonie." 



New Zealand Foraminifera.J — F. Chapman reports on a collection 

 of Foraminifera dredged off Great Barrier Island. The sounding was 

 remarkable for the extraordinary abundance of specimens of BilocuUna, 

 Nodomria, CristeJIan'a, and Trnncatulina, and their full development is 

 indicative of especially favourable conditions of Ufe in this particular area. 

 Another interesting feature is the presence of a large number of forms 

 which have hitherto been found in dredgings from other, widely removed 

 areas, generally in the northern hemisphere, and particularly from the 

 colder waters of the Temperate Zone. The author enumerates lOP) 

 species, of which 57 are new to this area, and Brachy siphon corbidiformis 

 is a type of a new genus. In the same paper he deals also with Ostracods 

 (see Crustacea). 



Genus Actinolophus.§ — L. B. Walton gives a review of the species 

 of this genus of Heliozoa, and describes a new form, A. minutm sp. n., 

 from Gambler, Ohio, the first of this group to be recorded for America. 



Treponema pallidum Penetrating the Ovum.jl — Levaditi and 

 Sauvage report a case in which this spirochaite had penetrated into the 

 ovarian ova of a child. According to R. Koch the spirillum of tick- 

 fever may infect the ovum of Ornithodoros moubata ; according to 

 Levaditi and Manuelian, Spirillum gallinartim may penetrate the ova of 

 infected fowls. It seems, therefore, that there may be infection of ova 

 from a syphilitic mother, quite apart from placental infection of the 

 foetus. 



Note on Treponema pallidum. f^ — B. Galli-Valerio confirms the 

 observations of other workers that the appearance of this parasite may 

 be greatly altered in preparations fixed over the flame. The spirals are 

 more open and the typical characters lost. This is especially so if the 

 preparation is warmed before drying. Its most reliable distinguishing 

 feature is its thinness and its staining reddish with Giemsa's preparation. 



SpirochsBta pallida in Syphilitic Sections.** — E. Bertarelli and 

 G. Volpino record the occurrence of Spirochceta pallida in sections of 

 primaiy, secondary, and tertiary sj^hilitic lesions. Some of the 



* Rev. Suisse Zool., xiv. (1906) pp. 109-41 (1 pL). 



• t Arch. Entw., xxi. (1906) pp. 111-25. See also Zool. Zentralbl., xiii. (1906) 

 pp. 586-7. 



X Trans. New Zealand Institute, xxxviii. (1906) pp. 77-112 (1 pi.). 



§ Ohio Naturalist, v. (1905) No. 3, pp. 261-3. 



11 Comptes Rendus, cxliii. (1906) pp. 559-61 (1 fig.). 



t Centralbl. Bakt. Parasitenk., xli. (1906) pp. 745-6 (1 fig.). 



** Tom. cit., pp. 74-8 (1 pi.). 



