392 Journal of Agricultural Research voi. xxii, no. s 



inclines to the view that oxyhemoglobin is a normal constituent of these 

 worms. Dobemecker {191 2) records the presence of oxyhemoglobin in 

 ascarids, which he determined by means of the spectroscope. Faure- 

 Fremiet {1913) expresses the view that the oxyhemoglobin present in 

 the intestine of worms belonging to the genus Ascaris is obtained from the 

 blood of the host and that the iron pigment in the intestinal cells is 

 derived from disintegration products of hemoglobin. Galli-Valerio 

 {191 5) affirms the presence of blood in ascarids and states that the body 

 fluid of a female ascarid gave a positive benzidin test for blood. The 

 present writer (Schwartz, 191 9) found that Ascaris lumbricoides loses its 

 oxyhemoglobin when kept in vitro for a number of days and that coinci- 

 dent with the loss of this substance the worms become sluggish and die. 

 Magath (1919) has made a similar observation in the case of another 

 nematode (CamaUanus americanus) which contains a "reddish fluid." 

 Magath also notes the presence of pigment granules in the gut wall of 

 this worm. 



It has already been stated in another section of this paper that Schim- 

 melpfennig {1902) and Flury (191 2) found that the body fluid of worms 

 belonging to the genus Ascaris is destructive to red blood cells. Fol- 

 lowing are the observations and experiments of the present writer on this 

 question. 



Fluid collected from fresh specimens of Ascaris lumbricoides within 24 

 hours after removing the parasites from the host is not hemolytic. 

 Such fluid was tested on the washed erythrocytes of cattle, sheep, hog, 

 rabbit, and guinea pig without producing any appreciable dissolving 

 action. In one case it was found tliat fluid which had been kept in a 

 refrigerator for three days was destructive to sheep erythrocytes, but a 

 repetition of this experiment with fluid from another lot of worms yielded 

 negative results. Fluid collected under aseptic precautions and kept 

 in a refrigerator for two or three days failed to hemolyze red blood 

 corpuscles. 



On the other hand, fluid from worms which had been kept alive in 

 vitro for a number of days was found to be hemolytic. In one case 

 worms were kept alive in a physiological salt solution for eight days at a 

 temperature of 32° to 33° C. At the end of this period fluid was obtained 

 from the worms and tested on the washed red blood cells of the hog, with 

 positive results. A repetition of this experiment on a different sample of 

 washed erythrocytes from the hog likewise yielded positive results. In 

 another case worms which were kept alive for six days yielded a fluid 

 which was destructive to washed sheep corpuscles. Fluid from another 

 lot of worms which had been kept in the laboratory for four days was but 

 slightly although quite unmistakably hemolytic to sheep blood cor- 

 puscles. A portion of this fluid was boiled and the clear liquid after 

 being separated from the coagulum was still hemol)rtic. Fluid from 



