304 



FAMILY: MONADID^ 



pig's fseces. Though certain individuals reached a length of 15 microns, 

 the flagellate is probably identical with that studied by Woodcock. In 

 the younger forms the body is distinctly flattened, and resembles a blade 

 of grass twisted into a spiral. There is a small but definite cytostome, 

 though Woodcock stated that no cytostome was present in the form 

 studied by him. The two flagella arise from the region of the cytostome, 

 one apparently from its anterior lip and the other from a point within it. 

 In some individuals a thread, which may be the axoneme, can be traced to 

 the membrane of the spherical nucleus which occupies a central position 

 in the body. In some individuals there appears to be a granule at the 

 base of each flagellum near or on the surface of the body. The older 

 individuals become more cylindrical in form, though they may still show 





Fig. 144. — Phyllomitus undulans : A Coprozoic Flagellate in Goat's F.eces 



( X 3,000). (After Woodcock, 1916.) 



1-2. Ordinary type of flagellate. 3-4. Dividing forms. 



indications of a spiral twist. In preparation for division the body 

 gradually retracts to a spherical form and encysts. The nucleus divides 

 to form two nuclei, and these again to give rise to four. The body then 

 divides into four daughter flagellates. In some cases two and in others 

 three daughter flagellates are formed. 



Sangiorgi (1917) described as Toxobodo intestinalis a small flagellate he 

 had cultivated from human faeces. Its measurements were 8 to 9- 6 microns 

 by 3-2 to 4-8 microns. From the figures, it appears that the flagellate 

 was probably a Spiromonas. Both it and the one named T. sangiorgii, 

 and cultivated from mouse fasces by YakimofE (1925), are probably 

 S. angusta. Similarly, the coprozoic flagellate seen by Alexeieff (1918) in the 

 faeces of the horse and tortoise, and which he named Alphamonas coprocola, 

 is probably the same spiral organism, as pointed out by Woodcock (1921). 



