2 
NOTES ON SOME PARASITIC PROTISTS. 123 
according to my view, contains a “diffuse nucleus” in the 
form of a chromidial system.? 
~The movements of B.flexilis are very characteristic. By 
means of its “flagella” it swims rapidly from place to place 
in either direction. In addition to these locomotory move- 
ments, intrinsic movements can be observed. They consist, 
for the most part, in a lateral bending, and appear to be 
largely passive, determined by the disposition of the débris 
through which the organism is making its way. Owing to 
these movements, the organism presents a curved, S-shaped 
or sometimes somewhat spiral appearance. As it swims 
about its ends often oscillate slowly from side to side, pendu- 
lum-wise. 
In being so remarkably supple, this Bacillus differs from 
all others. In fact, rigidity has sometimes been used as a 
criterion for judging the bacterial or protozoan nature of an 
1 It is perhaps necessary to say a few words about these granules in 
Bacteria. Colourable granules have been long known to occur in bacterial 
cells. They were described as ‘“‘metachromic bodies’? by Babes, “red 
granules” by Biitschli, “sporogenic granules” by Ernst, etc., ete. They 
have been variously interpreted: by some (Biitschli, Schewiakoff, etc.) as 
chromatin, by others (Fischer, Migula, etc.) as metabolic products, by others 
(Meyer, Grimme, etc.) as “volutine,” by others still (e. g. Podwyssotzski) as 
products of degeneration, by others again (e.g. von Behring) as toxigen 
granules, and so on and so on. All views have, in consequence, been main- 
tained regarding the cytology of Bacteria—from that which regards them as 
all cytoplasm to that which regards them as all nucleus. The latter view has 
recently been upheld by Ruzicka, who believes Bacteria to consist entirely of 
nuclein, on account of their resistance to artificial gastric juice. Butschii first 
put forward this view, and it was held by Klebs, Hiippe, and many others 
subsequently. On the other hand, many writers, since Schottelius in 1888, 
maintain that a true nucleus exists in Bacteria. Such a view has been held 
by Vejdowsky, Mencl, A. Meyer, etc., etc., whose work seems to prove con- 
clusively that, in some cases at least, a distinct nucleus is present. 
It appears highly probable that more than one kind of granule exists in the 
bacterial cell, and that in many cases the granules are in part chromatin. 
Schaudinn, Guilliermond, and others adopt this view. The “ metachromic 
bodies” are probably reserve material. Meyer and Guilliermond have shown 
that they exist side by side with a true nucleus in the Ascompestes an 
observation of much interest. 
