334 I'ARASITU' PROTOZOA FOUND IN SOUTH AFRICA. 



the suuimer, namely, in November, 1921, and in January and 

 February, 1022. The Musca preferred to feed around experi- 

 mental puncture wounds on the neck of the stabled horse. Some 

 of the Musca contained recently ingested blood, others contained 

 blood in various stages of digestion in their alimentary tracts. 

 The horse's blood was frequently examined, but was negative for 

 Protozoa. While writing this paper, I- was very interested in the 

 remarks of K. \V. Glaser* on his experiences with house-flies and 

 Herpctomonas muscce domestical in the neighbourhood of Prince- 

 ton, U.S.A., and his experiences are much the same as mine, 

 both as regards parasitised flies being found in siunmer (July and 

 August in the United States) and as regards flies caught in 

 dwelling houses not being parasitised with herpetomonads. 

 Glaser's infected flies came from " cow barns and horse stables.'^ 

 An interesting Herpetomonas, occurring in the posterior 

 portion of the alimentary canal of tlie " clawed frog " or " clawed 

 toad," Xenopus hevis, was seen by me on June 14, 1922, in fresh 

 rectal scrapings. The flagellates w^re very few in number and 

 were active. Only eight herpetomonads were found in the rectum, 

 of which one was a dividing form with a body length of 17\')^i, 

 while other non-dividing forms varied from 9j.i to ll\i in length of 

 body. The width of the body of the flagellates was 2(i to 2-ou, 

 which seems somewhat wide in comparison with the length of 

 the body. The flagellum was single, of varying length, in some 

 cases about one-third longer than the body, and was very flexible. 

 Three rounded, leishmaniform parasites were seen, measuring 

 about 4-5n by 2^. The rest of the gut of this Xenopus was 

 examined, and only one more flagellate was seen near the junction 

 of the small and large intestine. Six other Xenopus examined on 

 the same day were found to be uninfected with herpetomonads. 

 This Herpetomonas, found in the gut of Xenopus, may, for dis- 

 tinctive purposes, be provisionally named Herpetomonas xenopi, 

 though it may ultimately prove to be a flagellate from an insect 

 swallowed by the Amphibian host. Three more Xenopus have- 

 since been found infected with this Herpetomonas, but in each 

 case the infection was very slight. 



Herpetomonads have also been observed by me in hollow 

 cabbage stalks, taken from a fodder room belonging to souu- 

 animal houses in the district of Johannesburg. A few flagellates 

 were first seen in cabbage stalks on March 10, 1920. They wtre 

 found again on April 18, 1920, and three sketches were then made 

 with the aid of a camera lucida, from which it was determined 

 that two flagellate herpetomonads were 11(a and IS^i in body length 

 respectively, and I'Sji and 2^ in breadth. A rounded, spherical 

 non-flagellate form was 2-5[x in diameter. Just a year after (April. 

 1921) more herpetomonads were found in a rotting cabbage stalk 

 from the same fodder room. These flagellates varied in length of 

 body from G^i to 10^, and were l-2^i to I'Sji in breadth. A dividing 

 flagellate was seen, and also a small non-flagellate, 2^, by 13[i. 

 The flagellates, which were active, were living in the " messy 



* Jourtwl of ParasitoJo'J!/, viii, pp. 99—108. 



