ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICKOSCOPY, ETC. 587 



chamber perforated by a few large foramina— 5 /a in diameter. Below 

 the surface are seen rows of chambers communicating by perforations in 

 the walls and not by large open passages. There is no general aperture 

 and no supplemental skeleton of spines and tubercles as in Tinoporus. 

 Large numbers of sponge spicules are included, and a Polytrema some- 

 times occurs in the centre. 



Soil Protozoa.* — R. Greig-Smith has enquired into the phagocytic 

 action of soil Protozoa. The larger Ciliates, such as Golpoda cucuUus, 

 are not destroyed when comparatively large amounts of volatile dis- 

 infectant are added to the soil. Upon adding suspensions of Protozoa, 

 there was no evidence of any limitation in the numbers of the soil- 

 bacteria. Any enhanced effect was due to the addition of the bacteria 

 contained in the suspensions. The filtration of a soil extract had no 

 influence, beyond that of removing some of the bacteria in the suspen- 

 sion. Any phagocytic tendencies that the soil Protozoa possess, have 

 no influence in limiting the numbers ,of bacteria in the soil. So far as 

 the growth of bacteria is concerned, the effect of heat is of a different 

 character from that of a volatile disinfectant. Inf erentially, the bacterio- 

 toxins and nutrients (agricere) of the soil are alone concerned with the 

 changes that occur when soils are heated, or treated with volatile dis- 

 infectants. 



Polymastix and its Affinities.f — Doris L. Mackinnon describes 

 Polymastix, a small Flagellate parasitic in the alimentary canal of the 

 larvae of cockchafer, cranefly, and other insects. It is pear-shaped to 

 spindle-shaped, the anterior end rounded, the posterior end tapering or 

 often forked or otherwise " deformed." Four flagella arise from two basal 

 granules at the extreme anterior end, and are considerably longer than the 

 body. A cytostome lies between the basal granules. The periplast or 

 pellicula is relatively thick and rigid, raised into numerous longitudinal 

 folds or ribs. The cytoplasm is finely alveolar, and contains numerous 

 ingested bacteria. An axostyle is usually present, but feebly developed. 

 The nucleus is immediately behind the basal granules ; sometimes 

 spherical, more often pear-shaped, with a large karyosome surrounded by 

 a clear zone, which is surmounted by a group of chromatin granules. 

 Extra-nuclear granules of chromatin (?) may also occur. Division occurs, 

 in an "apparently transverse " manner somewhat like that in Lophomonas ; 

 and attention is also directed to the similar character of the ribbed 

 periplast in the two genera. There are also certain points of resemblance 

 in the nuclei of the two. There appear to be genuine affinities between 

 Lophomonadidse and Polymastigid^. 



Piroplasmosis 4— George H. F. Nuttall gives an account of the 

 part played by species of Firoplasma ( = Babesia) in causing disease. 

 Bovine piroplasmosis is due to at least two species, P. bovis and P. 

 divergens ; red-water or " biliary fever " in horses is due to NuttalUa 

 equi (Laveran) and Piroplasma caballi Nuttall ; ovine piroplasmosis is 



* Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., xxxvii. (1913) pp. 655-72. 



t Quart. Journ. Micr. Sci., lix. (1913) pp. 297-308 (1 pi. and 1 fig.). 



X BuU. Johns Hopkins Hospital, xxiv. (1913) pp. 307-16 (21 figs.). 



