(lattoiii of glvcoKi'ii storagi' Sffiiis to Ix' similar to that of 

 Ascaris. In acuordaiu'e with the (luantitativc cliemical obsoiva 

 tions muoh U'ss glvcogon was fuuiul l)y morpliological inothods 

 ill hookworms than in ascarids. In the former, liowevcr, the 

 rays of the bursa are an important storage place, and prob- 

 ably represent an energy reserve for the male during the periods 

 of copulation when it is detached from the intestinal wall 

 (Giovannola, 193.')). 



Not much is known about the occurrence of carbohydrates of 

 lower molecular weight in parasitic nematodes. Weinland 

 (1901) found 1.6 percent, and Schulte (I'UT) found 0.9 percent 

 glucose in Ascaris himbricoidt!!. It is, however, questionable 

 whether these figures are not too high, due to a partial break- 

 down of glycogen during the analyses. According to Foster 

 (lSG;i) and v. Brand (1934) only very small amounts of re- 

 ducing sugar occur in Ascaris. Faure-Fremiet (1913) found 

 0.15 percent glucose in the body fluid of Parascaris. 



ETHER EXTRACTABLE MATERIAL 



The parasitic nematodes seem to contain only small amounts 

 of material extractable with ether or petrol ether. The mean 

 values for Ascari.i Iinnhricoidcs vary from 1.2 to 1.6 percent 

 (Weinland, 1901: Flury, 1913; Schulte, 1917; v. Brand, 1934; 

 Smorodincev and Bebesin, 1936), and the value for a larval 

 EustrongyJides is 1.1 percent (v. Brand, 1S38). 



The chemical compounds comprising the ether extract seem 

 to be quite similar in Ascaris and Parascaris (Flury, 1912; 

 Faure-Fremiet, 1913; Schulz and Becker, 1933). According to 

 Flury (1912) 100 gm of ether extractable material from As- 

 caris contains the following : 



Volatile fatty acids _ 31.07 gm 



Saturated fatty acids _. 30.89 gm 



Unsaturated fatty acids 34.14 gm 



Unsaponifiable matter 24.72 gm 



Glycerol „ 2.40 gm 



Lecithin 6.61 gm 



The volatile fatty acids were represented chiefly by valeric 

 and butyric acids, with small amounts of formic, propionic and 

 acrylic acid. In Parascaris the whole series of volatile fatty 

 acids has been reported (Schimmelpfennig, 1903). The saturat- 

 ed fatty acids of higher molecular weight were recognized as 

 stearic acid with a small admixture of palmitic acid. Oleic 

 acid was the chief representative of the unsaturated fatty acids. 

 Flury 's value for glycerol is probably too low. Schulz and 

 Becker (1933), using newer methods, found glycerol values 

 ranging up to 8.8 percent. It is, therefore, unnecessary to as- 

 sume as seemed necessary to Flury (1912) that there is a com- 

 bination of part of the fatty acids with the unsaponifiable 

 matter. It is probable that all the fatty acids are present in 

 form of glyceryl esters. The unsaponifiable material is of 

 special interest because it contains a compound which so far 

 has been found in no other animal. This substance was found 

 independently by Flury (1912) and Faure-Fremiet (1913), 

 and it is known as ascaryl alcohol. It was recently reinvesti- 

 gated by Schulz and Becker (1933), who assigned it the for- 

 mula C33Hr»404. They state that its configuration is not yet 

 sufficiently known, but that it may be an ethereal combination 

 of glycerol with some higher alcohol. According to Faure- 

 Fremiet (1913) ascaryl alcohol occurs in the female repro 

 ductive cells only. Under these circumstances one wonders 

 why neither Flury (1912) nor Schulz and Becker (1933) men- 

 tion any other unsaponifiable substance, which should be ex- 

 pected in other parts of the body. Faure-Fremiet (1913) 

 found small amounts of cholesterol in the body fluid, the eggs, 

 and the testes of Ascaris, but Bondouy (1910) found no 

 cholesterol in Strongylus equinus. The ether extract of the lat- 

 ter species seems to be characterized by the presence of soaps. 



Little is known about the distribution of the ether extract- 

 able material in different organs. Flury (1912) found it to 

 comprise 1.00 percent of the body wall of Ascaris and. 4.0 to 

 6.2."i percent of the reproductive organs. The latter figure 

 agrees with that given by Faure-Fremiet (1913) for the testes. 

 If allowances are made for the relative weights of body wall 

 and reproductive systems, it seems probalile that roughly the 

 same amount of ether extractable material is stored in both 

 these places. This is in marked contrast to the distribution of 

 glycogen. 



Microscopical examinations (v. Kemnitz, 1912; Faure-Fre- 

 miet, 1913; Mueller, 1928/29; Hirsch and Bretschneider, 1937) 

 have shown that fat droplets are deposited in the plasma bulbs 

 of the muscles of Ascaris, in which the nuclei are usually 

 surrounded by an accumulation of fat, in the four chords, and 



especially in the subcuticuhi. Stainable fat was also found in 

 ganglion cells, the intestinal cells, and the reproductive or- 

 gans. According to Mueller (1928/29) considerably more fat 

 can be demonstrated with osniic acid in Parascaris than in 

 Ascaris, although the pattern of fat deposition is the same in 

 both species. 



NITROGEN CONTAINING SUBSTANCES 



Flury (1912) found 8.1 percent proteins in Ascaris. This 

 is somewhat less than should be expected from Weinland 's 

 (1901) N figure of 1.80 percent. Flury (1912) ascertained 

 the presence of albumin, globulin, albumoses and peptones, 

 purinebascs, amines and ammonia, and he identified a series 

 of amino acids as degradation products of the worm i)rotein. 

 Recently Yoshimura (1930) performed a quantitative analysis 

 of the amino acids resulting from the hydrolysis of ascarids 

 with sulfuric and hydrochloric acid. His results are summarized 

 in the following table: 



Amino acids in percent of dry substance upon hydrolysis with 



hydrochloric 

 acid 



sulfuric 

 acid 



Leucine ._. 3.70 



Alanine -- 1.4." 



Valine 0.79 



Proline 3.41 



Isoleucine 1.45 



Serine - 0.72 



Glutaminie acid 3.93 



Aspartic acid 0.36 



Glycocoll 0.29 



Phenylalanine 0.02 



Leucine 15..54 



Histidine 0.45 



Arginine 1.28 



Lysine ! 2.58 



Tyrosine 2.09 



The N containing substances constituting the cuticle have 

 already been discussed in another chapter (see page 32), and 

 that characteristic of the eggs (chitin) is mentioned on 

 page 177. 



Faure-Fremiet (1913) described under the name of ascaridine 

 an intracellular protein of the spermatozoa of Ascaris. It con- 

 tains 17.5 percent N, but no phosphorus or sulfur. The chemi- 

 cal constitution of this interesting compound is not yet sufli- 

 ciently known. It is insoluble in cold distilled water," but dis- 

 solves rapidly in water of 50 to 51 °C. This critical temperature 

 varies greatly if the substance is dissolved in various salt 

 solutions (Faure-Fremiet and Filliol, 1937). According to 

 Champetier and Faure-Feimiet 's (1937) roentgenographie stud- 

 ies ascaridine seems to be a semi-crystalline substance, but it 

 can be changed experimentally into an amorphous state. 



In recent years an increasing amount of attention has been 

 given to the occurrence of respiratory pigments in parasitic 

 nematodes. Haemoglobin seems to be widely distributed. It 

 has been found in Dioclophyma, Ascaris, Para.<icaris, To.tocara, 

 Nematodirns, species of Trichosirougyiits, Camallaniis, Spiro- 

 cerca, a larval Eustrongylides and larvae of Trichinella (Aduc- 

 co, 1889; Flury, 1912; Faure-Fremiet, 1913; Keilin, 1925; 

 Kriiger, 1936; v. Brand, 1937; Davey, 1938; Stannard, McCoy 

 and Latchford, 1638; Wharton, 1938, 1941; Hsii, 1938: Janicki, 

 1939). The best known case is that of Ascaris where it is 

 found both in the body fluid and the body wall. The absorption 

 bands of the haemoglobins occurring at these two places are 

 slightly different, and this indicates the presence of two kinds 

 of haemoglobin (Keilin, 1925). In all the above cases, where 

 haemoglobin has been found beyond the intestinal wall, one 

 can safely assume that it has been synthetized by the worm. 

 Parts of the host haemoglobin molecule may, of course, be 

 used in this process, but no definite data on this possibility have 

 been ob'oained. Obviously, haemoglobin found in the intestinal 

 tract of a worm will not fall in the same category, though in 

 some instances it may play a physiologically similar role (hook- 

 worm, for example). 



Tlye only other respiratory pigments found so far are cyto- 

 chrome, which is known to occur in Ascaris, Parascaris and 

 Caviallanus where the highest concentration is found in the eggs 

 and sperm (Keilin, 1925; Wharton, 1941) and flavine found 

 In- .Goureviteh (1937) in Parascaris. 



361 



