GENUS: LEISHMANIA 399 



of flagellates of the leptomonas type in the North African gecko {Tarentola 

 tnauritanica) by making cultures from the heart blood. Bayon (1915) 

 discovered flagellates of this type in the cloaca of the chameleon {Chamce- 

 leon pumilus) of Robben Island, an observation confirmed by the writer 

 (1921) for Chamwleon vulgaris of Egypt. Another form was found by 

 Leger, M. (19186), in the blood of a lizard {Anolis sp.) of Martinique. 

 Fantham and Porter (1920) have described and figured a leptomonas 

 from the blood of a South African fish {Dentex argyrozona), while Laveran 

 and Franchini (1921), under the name of Herpetotnonas myoxi, record a 

 similar form from the dormouse {Myoxus glis) of Italy (see p. 442). Strong 

 (1924) has seen flagellates of the leptomonas type in the intestine of the 

 lizard {Cnemidophorus lemniscatus) of Central America. 



In the case of the flagellates which are only seen in the blood in the 

 living condition, it is always possible that they were in reality trypano- 

 somes or crithidia stages of these. This possibly applies to the forms seen 

 by Balfour in the gerbil, by Fantham and Porter in the mouse, and by 

 Laveran and Franchini in the dormouse. Quite recently the writer saw 

 very active flagellates in the urine of a rat. At first they were thought 

 to be leptomonas, but more careful study of the shape and movements 

 produced the impression that they were crithidia. Stained films, however, 

 proved that only trypanosomes of the T. lewisi type were present, and as 

 the rat was infected with this trypanosome, it was evident the trypano- 

 somes had passed into the urine from a wound made at the autopsy. 



Richardson (1925, 1926) found numerous leishmania in the spleen of 

 a horse which died in Uganda. The writer saw the films, which resembled 

 those from cases of kala azar. Curson (1926) has given the name Leish- 

 mania caprcB to supposed leishmania seen in films made from the ear of a 

 goat in S. Africa. 



As regards the various species of Leishmania described from man, 

 it is generally admitted that they are morphologically indistinguishable 

 from one another. Little assistance has been obtained from animal inocu- 

 lations, for it has been found that L. donovani, which produces a general- 

 ized infection in man, may give rise to purely cutaneous lesions in animals, 

 as also occasionally in man; while L. tropica, which causes local cutaneous 

 lesions in man, may produce generalized infections in animals. Attempts 

 have been made to differentiate the species by serological tests, the use of 

 which for the separation of true species is of very doubtful value. The 

 most precise statements are those of Noguchi (1924). He employed 

 strains of L. donovani, L. infantum, L. tropica, and L. brasiliensis. Rabbits 

 were inoculated intravenously on four occasions at five to seven day 

 intervals. The sera from these animals were then used on cultures to 

 test their agglutinating power. It was found that in dilutions of ^\, or 



