III. 



CLASSIFICATION AND NOMENCLATURE. 



FROM the time of the first description of a para- 

 sitic amoeba of man the classification and nomen- 

 clature of these organisms has occasioned much con- 

 fusion and difficulty. This is due to the great 

 resemblance in the general morphology of the para- 

 sites belonging to the various species and to the 

 difficulty and labor of studying their life cycle. 

 While for years all authorities have agreed that these 

 organisms belong to the Protozoa, almost every 

 writer, until recently, has differed in his classification 

 or in his conception of the biological history of the 

 amoeba? associated with dysentery, and it was not 

 until Schaudinn's observations were published that 

 a really satisfactory classification of these parasites 

 was possible. 



However, it is probable that the present accepted 

 classification may be found more or less erroneous 

 as our knowledge increases, and it should be under- 

 stood that in any of the amaebce in which the life 

 cycle has not been thoroughly worked out, classifica- 

 tion can only be provisional. There are a few well- 

 studied species occurring in man in which the present 



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