f^LAGELLATED ORGANISMS IN THE BLOOD OF ANIMALS. 35? 



Further Observations on Flagellated Organisms 

 in the Blood of Animals. 



By 



Surgeon-M^or Timotby Ricbards I^ewisi, M.B., 



Assistaut-Professor of Pathology, Army Medical School, Netiey. 



In a memoir on " The Microscopic Organisms found in the 

 Blood of Man and Animals/' published in the ' Fourteenth 

 Annual Report of the Sanitary Commissioner with the Govern- 

 ment of India/ and which was, in great part, reproduced in the 

 first three numbers of the ^ Quarterly Journal of Microscopical 

 Science ' for 1879, a chapter was devoted to a description of 

 certain flagellated organisms which I had found in the blood of 

 rats. This chapter will be found in the January number at 

 p. 109, so that it will not be necessary on the present occasion 

 to do more than very briefly recapitulate what was given 

 therein. 



Having been directed to make certain inquiries regarding the 

 nature of the, sometimes designated, " spirillum-fever '' which 

 prevailed in Bombay during the earlier part of 1877, I had 

 occasion to examine the blood of a considerable number of 

 animals, and in July of that year detected spirillum-like 

 organisms in the blood of healthy rats. In some instances 

 these were so numerous that the blood when examined under 

 a high power seemed to quiver with life. On careful focussing 

 it was ascertained that each organism consisted of a body- 

 portion and of an extension of it in the form of a gradually 

 tapering, long flagellum, the former average 25 fi in length by 

 1 ju in width, whilst the flagellum brought up the total length of 

 the organism to about 50 fj. or longer, for it was by no means 

 certain that the whole length of the free end of the flagellum 



