| : ; ae yi we ma s 
54 THe MICROSCOPE. 
The cilia at the anterior extremity are longer than elsewhere, 
and directed forward, forming a fringe or collar, around what is prob- 
ably the mouth-partsof the organism. In some cases the cilia at the 
posterior extremity are slightly elongated, and form a more or less 
conical tuft, but they do not in respect to length approach the cilia 
of the collar. The body frequently shows parallel spiral markings ~ 
which may indicate the position of the cilia, or a ridged surface. In 
some cases trichocysts were observed, but it is not certain that they 
are constantly present in the cortical layer of these animalcules. 
There is a distinct and large nucleus, of circular form, the general loca- 
tion of which is central, though it may be nearer one or other end of the 
body. Nocontractile vesicle has yet been detected, a feature this 
parasite shares in common with the genera Trichonympha and 
Pyrsonema of Leidy. The body is generally gorged with food, 
identical in appearance with the contents of the alimentary canal 
of the termites in which the parasites occur. They appear, there- 
fore, to live directly on the semi-digested food-contents of the intestines 
of their host. No one who has once examined the living mass 
which inhabits the white ant need be surprised at the voracious appe- 
tite of that destructive insect! The ‘‘ mouth-parts” of the organism: 
is a hyaline cap surmounting a narrow tube, probably pharyngeal, 
which is in most cases located at the anterior extremity. It does 
not occur in all the parasites; and, moreover, in some instances the 
- cap is replaced by a minute hyaline sphere. 
Such of the parasites illustrated in Leidy’s paper as have been re- 
produced in Kent’s work have nosuch mouth-parts as are observable in 
the animaleules which infested a large proportion of the white ants 
examined; and there are other differences. Simmons expresses him- 
self provisionally as to these organs being mouth-parts, never having 
seen food particles pass intothe mouth, nor through the pharynegal 
tube, nor detected them in its immediate neighborhood; indeed, the 
dimensions of some of the particles have been such as to preclude the 
possibility of their having passed down the tube, unless it be dila- 
table. From the identity of the food particles in the parasite with 
those in the intestinal organs of the termite, we must infer with 
Leidy that an oral aperture exists. It would be interesting to ascer- 
tain how the abundance of ingested food in the animalcules gains 
admission into its body. The infusorian is often observed spinning 
rapidly on its longer axis without making, or even apparently attempt- 
ing to make, progress forwards. Its revolving motion on these 
occasions has been too rapid to admit of determining whether 
or not it was feeding. Again, in swimming through the semi- 
