70 i« :1— t iSi .& <^ ^M m I ^ at "C 



tlirougli. There are, liowever, eertniii faets, by means of wliicii we can infer some of 

 tlie funetious thev peilormcd diuiuo- liie. I liave not unlrequently (»bsrrvcd tli.' 

 solitary individuals possessiiiii' obtuse processes on their bodv surface, Avhich look 

 like pseudopodia suddenly hardened. It is thus highly probable that they creep 

 about (hiring life by means of the pseudopodia whieli tlicy may produce on the 

 sufaee of their body. On the other hand, the indiyiduals in groups present no 

 structure comparable with a pseudoi>odium or other locomotive organs of unicellular 

 orua.nisms They are, ther(^fore, to be regarded as being in a motionless state- ; 

 they are, as I believe, in the phase of division or multiplication. This assumi)tion 

 is further supported by the fact that the individuals are united in groups firmed 

 of sometimes three, sometimes four and rarely more than six. From these facts 

 the following consideration will proye to be true. Tiie parasites multiply by 

 repeated fissions, until they attain a certain number, perhaps, less than 10. Then 

 they (Teep out of their cell-nest, sending out and withdrawing their pseudopodia. 

 This may furtlier hv the reason why the parasites are rapidly added in number. 



If tile above considerations are convincing, the parasites in (|ue4ion doubtless 

 represent a 'species of the group Aiiueba, as will be induced from their life history ; 

 but I can not s:iy, however, at present with certainty, wh(>ther tlicy are AiiKfha 

 meliagridis, a name wiiich Smith " has given to the para^it(> worked out by him 

 in turkeys. 



Concerning the damages which the parasites cause in tlie structures com])t)sing 

 the ceecal walls, the following facts are to be mentioned. In the tnnica propria, 

 for instance, there is detected no additional matter which may be looked upon as 

 pathological products. ()n the contrary, the fibers of this layer become very scanty : 

 consequently the texture is much loosened. The spaces thus brought about are 

 occupied by the scattered solitary parasites or by the cell-nests. This fact inakes 

 it intelligible that tlie fibrous elements of the tunica propria are to agreat extent 

 dissolved : probably the parasites nourish themselves with the dissolved matter of the 

 fibers. 



In spite of decrease of the structural elements within, the cceeal wall .swells up 

 in its thickness ; this is dtie to nothing else than rapidly progressing increase in 

 nund)cr of the parasitic indiyiduals, as shown by the fact that at the maximum of 

 the thickening which I have observed, the interior of the tunica propria is thickly 



1) Siiiitb: Infectious Entoro-Hepiitics in Turkeys: Bulletin of the Knrean of Animal Industry. 

 U. 8. A. I)c'|). of Agr., Xo. S. 1S9Ö. 



