/20 PKOCEBDINGS OF SECTION K. 



(2) Orang-utan. — Tlie case of this animal is of considerable 

 importance, as it appears to afford some direct evidence as to the 

 oricrin of the intracorpuscular chromatin bodies present in this and 

 other animals. The Orang had been in the Zoological Gardens 

 about thirteen months, and died on 24th November, 1912. It had 

 been ailing some days before death, and post-mortem examination 

 showed the blood to be heavily infected with Hseraoproteus 

 pitheci, this malaria protozoon probably being the primary cause 

 of death. In addition, there were present in the red corpuscles 

 both from the general circulation and the organs, a few chromatin 

 bodies morphologically and tinctorially identical with those already 

 described. In the case of this animal, however, smears were made 

 from the bone marrow of the femur, humerus, and ribs. In the 

 case of all the previous animals I had not troubled to make pre- 

 parations from the marrow, having examined the red cells present 

 in the general circulation and organs only. 



The marrow of the shafts of the long bones was markedly con- 

 gested, and smears showed chromatin bodies to be relatively 

 numerous. In addition, as of course, would be expected, erythro- 

 blasts were plentiful. In a number of the latter, the nuclei were 

 undergoing fragmentation, and in a single smear there could be 

 observed all gradations in size from the intact nucleus down to 

 small spherical fragments quite indistinguishable from the 

 chromatin bodies present in the general circulation of this 

 and other animals. Moreover, in. some of the red cells, 

 small fregments of the size and shape of the bodies in the 

 general blood stream could be seen just about to become detached 

 from the parent nucleus. In others, the nucleus having split up 

 into rounded lobes, was again further subdividing into smaller 

 fragments. Some of these smaller bodies occupied positions right 

 on the margin of the red corpuscle. Cells containing nothing but 

 small rounded fragments like those in the general circulation were 

 common. Occasionally small dividing forms about the size of a 

 coccus or less could be seen. They resembled those observed in 

 the red corpuscles of some of the lemurs {vide figure No. 6). 



Considerations concerning the Nature of the Chromatin 

 Bodies in the Various Animals Enumerated. 

 The Marsupials. 

 It has already been mentioned that some observers hold that 

 the bodies in the erythrocytes of these animals are possibly para- 

 sitic. There is no evidence at all at present to substantiate this 

 view beyond the fact that they resemble the anaplasms. 

 On the contrary, the evidence available all goes to show that those 

 bodies are not parasitic, but are purely nuclear remnants. Fur- 

 thermore, that they occur normally in the circulating blood of 



