46 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



Spermatozoa of Ascaris.* — H. Marcus describes the peculiar 

 spermatozoa of Ascaris lumhricoides, and calls attention to the numerous 

 pseudopodia which make the spermatozoon sometimes Heliozoon-like. 

 He observed the gradual penetration of the ovum, and suggests (with 

 Zacharias) that a fermentative action may perhaps dissolve the mem- 

 brane. He also discusses the apparently unimportant " refractive body," 

 the chromatoid granules around the nucleus, and the probable conceal- 

 ment of a centrosome within the chromatin-nucleus. 



Trichosoma tenue in Liver of Erinaceus.f — B. Galli-Valerio de- 

 scribes from the liver of Erinaceus eurojmeus eggs and adults of this 

 Nematode obstructing the lumen of the biliary canal. The walls were 

 thickened, and at certain places the parenchyma of the liver was replaced 

 by eggs surrounded by connective tissue. The liver had the appearance 

 of suffering from miliary tuberculosis, but microscopic examination 

 revealed the true cause of the lesions. 



Pathog^enic Action of Intestinal Worms.J — J. Guiart thus sums 

 up the modes of action uf gut parasites. They may through stimulation 

 of nerve endings institute reflex disturbances, causing sickness. By 

 secretion of substances more or less toxic, red blood corpuscles may be 

 destroyed or nerve centres affected. By causing ulceration of the 

 mucous membrane, an opening is made for the entrance of toxins and 

 bacteria. It appears from the facts adduced that intestinal worms play 

 an important part, especially in tropical pathology. 



Platyheltninthes . 



Multiple Echinococcus in Body Cavity of Man.§ — Dr. Kablukoff 

 gives an account uf six cases where numerous echinococcus vesicles were 

 present in the body c<ivity. Four of the patients died. The author is 

 of opinion that the presence in the body cavity of the echinococci was 

 due to the rupture of a cyst or cysts. 



Development of Taenia serrata.||^-C. V. Janicki gives an account 

 of the early stages in the development of this tapeworm — the immature 

 ovum (with its chromidial apparatus (?)), the yolk-cells, the segmentation 

 into macromeres and micromeres, the formation of the egg-envelope, 

 and so on. 



Life-history of Trematodes of Fishes and Amphibians. 1[ — ^D. 

 Ssinitzin has made an important series of observations on Distomuni 

 cygnoides (which he calls Gorgodera loossi) of Rana escuUnta and 

 R. temporaria, which has Eintheca larvse as its intermediate host, and on 

 other Trematode parasites of frogs. He also discusses Phyllodistomum 



* Biol. Centralbl., xxvi. (1906) pp. 427-30 (5 figs.). 



t Centralbl. Bakt. Parasitenk., xli. (1906) pp. 746-7 (1 fig.). 



X Arch, de Parasitol., ix. (1904) pp. 175-86. See also Centralbl. Bakt. Para- 

 sitenk., xxxviii. (1906) pp. 215-16. 



§ Arch. f. Klin. Chir., Ixxviii. (1905). See also Centralbl. Bakt. Parasitenk., 

 xxxviii. (1906) p. 218. 



II Zool. Anzeig., xxx. (1906) pp. 763-8 (7 figs.). 



•if Zool. Zentralbl., xiii. (1906) pp. 681-9. 



