MYXOSPORIDIA 321 



servations on this point. Here a few of the more recent findings 

 will be considered. 



i) Effect of the ccelozoic Myxosporidia upon the host body. 

 Auerbach (1910) considered through infection experiments that 

 there was an intracellular stage in Myxidium bergense during its 

 early trophic life. Exact information in regard to this observation 

 is lacking. The majority of investigators have not noted any 

 pathological effects on the parasites upon the host body. In the case 

 of a heavy infection, remarkable changes have been reported to 

 occur. Leger (1906) noted that a heavy infection by Chloromyxum 

 truttcE of the gall bladder of Tnitta fario resulted in a chronic 

 disease among the host fish in France. The infected fish lose appe- 

 tite, the fecal matter becomes diarrheic, and the entire body 

 anemic. In many cases the fish succumbed to the disease. Upon 

 autopsy it was found that the liver was decolorized, the gall blad- 

 der was enormously distended, and the bile was yellowish red in 

 color. The muscles and abdominal wall were deeply colored by the 

 bile. Leger attributed these changes to the presence of enormous 

 numbers of trophozoites of the myxosporidian in the gall bladder 

 and bile duct of the infected fish. 



Auerbach (1909) noticed a highly thickened epithelium of the 

 gall bladder of Gadiis vircns which was infected by Myxidium 

 bergense, wdiich he compared with a cystitis. According to Doflein 

 (1898), when each of the large intracellular stages of Hoferelliis 

 cyprini which occur in the uriniferous tubules of the kidney of the 

 carp, leaves the host cell, the latter secrets certain substances and 

 transforms itself into a "yellow body" and when a large number 

 of the latter bodies are present in the host fish death results. 



Ohlmacher (1893) and W'hinery (1893) noted that the kidneys 

 of Bufo lentiginosus infected by Leptotheca oJihnacJieri were en- 

 larged and in a congested state. The same myxosporidian was 

 found in Rana clamitans and R. pipiens by Kudo (1922) who 

 noted that the infected kidneys were slightly larger than the normal 

 ones and were usually greatly congested. 



2) Effect of the histozoic Myxosporidia upon the host body. 

 MYXOSPORIDIA havc been reported from every organ or tissue of 

 the fish, although as a rule a species confines itself to a specific 

 tissue of a specific fish. Numerous instances of distinctly recog- 

 nizable ill effects of histozoic myxosporidia upon the host body 

 have been reported. A heavy infection of the greater part of the 



