858 EXPEEIMENT STATION RECOED. 



On the life history and m-orpholo^y of Clonorchis sinensis, H. Kobayashi 

 {Centbl. Bakt. [efc], 1. AM., Orig., 75 {1915), No. 4, pp. 299-318, pis. 4).— This 

 report of studies at the Imperial Institute for Infectious Diseases has been 

 summarized as follows : 



" Liver distomiasis in Japan is caused by C. suiensis. The natives in the 

 district where the disease is prevalent are infested with the parasites through 

 eating fresh-water cyprinoid fishes raw that are the intermediate hosts. 



"Experimentally the following 12 species are ascertained to be the inter- 

 mediate hosts of the distome: Pseudorasbora parva, Leucogobio giintheri, L. 

 mayedCE, Sarcocheilichthys variegattis, Pscudopcrilampus tijpus, Parachcilogrui- 

 thus rhombcum, Achcilognathus lanccolatum, A. limbatum, A. cyanostigma, 

 Abbottina pscgma, Biwi<i zczcra, and Carassiiis auratus. 



"The encysted larva in the fish grows and reaches maturity in the cat, the 

 dog, the rabbit, the guinea pig, and the rat. In the final host the cyst ruptures 

 and the larva is set free. During the development in the final host, the spines 

 of the ' cuticula ' enlarge and then disappear. The size relations of the oral 

 and ventral sucliers are reversed. The final shape and position of the testes 

 and the ovary are attained in 7 days and the egg formation begins in from 12 

 to 15 days. 



"The parasite matures in from 23 to 26 days. Yellowish or brownish pig- 

 ment of the adult is probably degenerated shell material contained in the 

 yolk cells. Senile degeneration is found in larger specimens in which the 

 vitellaria are partly [reduced] or wholly disappear, the pigment is present, and 

 the uterus is empty. The liver distome in Japan constitutes a single species 

 (C. sinensis)." 



An outline of the morphology and life history of Crithidia leptocoridis 

 n. sp., Irene McCulix)CH (Univ. Cal. Pubs., Zoo/., J6 {1915), Xo. 1, pp. 22. pis. 

 4, fig. 1). — The flagellate parasite C. leptocoridis occurs in immense numbers in 

 the intestinal tract of the common box-elder bug {Lrptocoris irivittatus). 



Studies in the life history of an ameba of the Limax group (Vahlkampfia 

 calkensi), Maky J. Hogue {Arch. Proiistcnk., 35 {1914), No. 2, pp. 154-163, pis. 

 S). — :Most of the oysters found around New York are said to be infested with 

 this ameba, while tlie Cape Cod oysters and those found near Woods Hole are 

 peculiarly free from it. 



Identification of the stages in the asexual cycle of Bartonella bacilli- 

 f ormis, the pathogenic organism of verruga, and their bearing on the etiol- 

 ogy and unity of the disease, C. H. T. Townsend {Jour. Wash. Acad. Sci., 5 

 {1915), No. 21, pp. 662-667). — The author reviews studies relating to verruga 

 which appear to indicate conclusively that the Bartonella is a protozoan, and 

 attempts to interpret correctly the stages in the asexual cycle of D. baciUi- 

 f ormis. Accounts relating to verruga and its transmission by Phlebotomus 

 verrucanun have previously been noted (E. S. K., 32, pp. 248, 350). 



FOODS— HUMAN NUTRITION. 



The velocity of the staling of bread, J. R. Katz (A'. Akad. Wctrnsch. 

 Amsterdam, Tersl. Wis. en Natuiirk. Afdecl., 23 {1914), pt. 1, pp. 652-655).— In 

 continuation of previous work (E. S. R., 28, p. 861), the author reports ex- 

 perimental data indicating that the velocity of the staling of bread and its 

 loss of imbibing power (which is thought to depend on a physical change in 

 the starch of the flour so that it becomes harder and less capable of holding 

 water) do not run quite parallel. It was found that the diminished capacity 

 of the starch to absorb water took place the more rapidly, and that the vapor 



