282 PROTOZOOLOGY 



P. elmassiani (Migone) (Fig. 126, i, j). In various species of milk- 

 weeds; 9-20/x long; suspected transmitter, Oncopeltus fasciatus 

 (Holmes) ; in South and North America. 



Genus Herpetomonas Kent. Ill-defined genus (Fig. 119); ex- 

 clusively invertebrate parasites; Trypanosoma-, Crithidia-, Lep- 

 tomonas-, and Leishmania-forms occur during development. Several 

 species. 



H. muscarum (Leidy) ( H. muscae-domesticae (Burnett)). (Fig. 126, 

 k). In gut of flies, belonging to the genera Musca, Calliphora, Sarco- 

 phaga, LuciUa, Phormia, etc ; up to 30/i by 2-3)u. 



H. drosophilae (Chatton and Alilaire) (Fig. 126, l-n). In intestine 

 of Drosophila confusa; large leptomonad forms 21-25)U long, flagel- 

 lum body-length; forms attached to rectum 4-5m long. 



Genus Leishmania Ross. In man or dog, the organism is an ovoid 

 body with a nucleus and a blepharoplast; 2-5)U in diameter; with 

 often vacuoles and sometimes a rhizoplast near the blepharoplast; 

 intracellular parasite in the cells of reticulo-endothelial system; 

 multiplication by binary fission. In the intestine of blood-sucking 

 insects or in cultures, the organism develops into leptomonad form 

 which multiplies by longitudinal fission. 



There are known at present three "species" of Leishmania which 

 are morphologically alike. They do not show any distinct differential 

 characteristics either by animal inoculation experiments or by cul- 

 ture method. The agglutination test which Noguchi (1924) applied 

 for this purpose has been found to give contradictor}^ results by re- 

 cent investigators. 



Species of Phlebotomus (sand-flies) have long been suspected as 

 vectors of Leishmania. When a Phlebotomus feeds on kala-azar 

 patient, the leishmania bodies become flagellated and undergo 

 multiplication so that by the third day after the feeding, there 

 are large numbers of Leptomonas flagellates in the mid-gut. These 

 flagellates migrate forward to the pharynx and mouth cavity on the 

 4th or 5th day. On the 7th to 9th days (after the fly is fed a second 

 time), the organisms may be found in the proboscis. But the great 

 majorit}^ of the attempts to infect animals and man by the bite of 

 infected Phlebotomus have failed, although in a number of cases 

 small numbers of positive infection have been reported. Adler and 

 Ber (1941) have succeeded recently in producing cutaneous leish- 

 maniasis in 5 out of 9 human volunteers on the site of bites by lab- 

 oratory-bred P. papatasii which were fed on the flagellates of 

 Leishmania tropica suspended in 3 parts 2.7% saline and 1 part de- 

 fibrinated blood and kept at a temperature of 30°C. Swaminath, 



