184 



NATURE 



{July 4, 187: 



Not merely in the lower, but also in the higher forms of 

 animal life the microscopist is constantly encountering 

 anomalous appearances, structures, " bodies," &c. ; some 

 of these developments being regarded as normal, whilst 

 others are relegated to the category of pathological pro- 

 ducts. In very many cases the mysterious organisms in 

 question have been described as " glands ; " the variable 

 character of this system of structures affording a conve- 

 nient refuge for the destitute. More astute observers, 

 however, refuse to adopt such subterfuges, and have ac- 

 cordingly been satisfied cither merely to note their charac- 

 ters without forming any dclinite conclusions, or they 

 have gone only a step further by placing them within 

 the territory of superfluous developments. 



To take a few familiar instances occurring within the 

 domain of helminthology. We have the so-called 

 Raincyan sacs, regarded as the earliest stages of Cys- 

 ticerci by their discoverer. -Similar bodies were previously 

 described as the pioducts of muscular degeneration by 

 Ilessling. Finally, they were pronounced by Leuckart to 

 be psorosperms. Jn the year 1S56 I detected granular 

 bodies in the early stage of development of the eggs of 

 Tcrnict, respecting the nature of which I had then no 

 means of forming any definite opinion. These were sub- 

 sequently described by Weinland and Leuckart ; the 

 latter authority looking upon them as masses cast off from 

 the primitive yelk, and thus differentiated to form an organ 

 concerned in the production of the chitinous envelope of 

 the egg. Then, again, Leuckait speaks of certain " croupy 

 masses" (resulting from the enteritis produced by Tiiclii- 

 iiiasis) as capable of resolving themselves into psorosper- 

 mix : and 1 have myself witnessed what I presumed to be 

 the actual conversion of the granular and molecular con- 

 tents of the eggs of Fasciola hcpaiica into amaboids. 

 Leuckart, however, from prior and independent observa- 

 tion, had considered these bodies to be the parasitic con- 

 lervoid zoospores of Cliytridiion. 



Undoubtedly, appearances of this varied description 

 are very puzzlmg ; not so much, however, in the view of 

 deteimining their actual character and nature as for the 

 correct interpretation of their true mode of origination. 

 Perhaps, if one were not, in a measure, dominated by the 

 preconceived idea that these last-named bodies must have 

 sprung from invisible germs, the apparent ocular evi- 

 dence to the contrary would at once be held as a suffi- 

 cient explanalion. Be this as it may, I may refer in this 

 connection to some interesting facts which have recently 

 b;cn recorded by Profs. F. Sommer and L. Landois. To 

 their interesting '' Beitrage zur Anatomic dcr Plattwairmer" 

 I shall again have occasion to allude for other pur- 

 poses, but for the present I merely cpiote the following 

 short passage. Speaking of structures observed in the 

 segments or proglottides of Bothrioccpliahis latus, they 

 say (p. 16) :— _ 



" On a level with the folds of the seminal ducts, either 

 close to or lying between them, we observed in the 

 majority of instances within the sexually mature segments 

 round or oval hollow spaces from o'055 to 02S8m. in dia- 

 meter.'^ Their margins were sharply defined, most of 

 them being filled with a finely granular molecular mass ; 

 in others the contents appeared coarsely granular, highly 

 refracting. In an especial manner carmine tinctured the 

 finely granular contents vividly red, whilst the coarse 

 granules effected the reduction of osmic acid [Ucbcros- 

 miumsaurc) in a very marked degree ; on the other hand 

 the reduction by the fine granules was less marked. 

 Further research showed that these granules consisted of 

 very minute fat particles which, since they were little 

 affected by the direct application of ether, appear to 

 possess an albumenoid covering capable of being slightly 

 tinctured by carmine. We did not observe any of these 

 formations in immature joints ; their number also varied 

 much in the ripe segments ; of such we counted from one 



^ About Roo" to p*o" Eng. nnjasLircinent. — T. S. C. 



to six in a joint ; other sexually mature proglottides being 

 altogether free. They appeared especially in the neigh- 

 bourhood of the lower end of the seminal duct in front 

 and behind, where the seminal passage approaches the 

 cistern-like seminal reservoir. We regard these forma- 

 tions as detached portions of the seminal canal, namely, 

 of the larger ducts, whose contents are in a state of fatty 

 degeneration." 



Such are the facts. Are the bodies in question really 

 pathological products, or are they not, rather, superfluous 

 developments ? It cannot be said they arc necessary 

 constituents of the parasite ; and it will, perhaps, be denied 

 that they are in any sense heterogenetically formed 

 organisms. At all events, these cast-off bodies have a 

 grcgariniform look about them, judging from the repre- 

 sentations given by Urs. Sommer and Landois. The ex- 

 pression " hollow spaces" {Holilraiimc) is certainly rather 

 misleading ; the more so since they are rendered some- 

 what opaque by the crowding oi their granular con- 

 tents 



If it be true, as some teach, that protoplasms only beget 

 their own kinds of protoplasm, one is at a loss to under- 

 stand many of the ordinary phenomena of metamorphosis, 

 for myself, I look upon certain of these obscure develop- 

 ments as the result of a law of what I term " vegetative 

 deterioration." Under ordinary circumstances (as for 

 example in the case of the " innovations " produced from 

 abortive prothallia in Ferns) the law of Pangenesis ensures 

 a repetition of parts in all respects similar to those whence 

 the buddings have arisen ; but surely it is not necessary to 

 regard all anomalous and detached structures either as 

 morbid products on the one hand, or as germ-begotten 

 entities on the other. Without letting the imagination 

 run wild, it appears to me perfectly conceivable that 

 " bodies " of a kind more organised than Drs. Sommers' 

 and Landois' " formations," may result from the operation 

 of this law of degradational metamorphosis or " vegetative 

 deterioration." T. Spencer Cobbold 



DR. LIVINGSTONE'S DISCOVERIES 



T7ROM Mr. Stanley's despatches to the New York 

 J- Herald, which, by the courtesy of the English re- 

 presentative of that paper, have appeared in the Times, 

 V.C gather some important and definite information as to 

 the exact nature of Livingstone's discoveries ; and more 

 than this, we have a full explanation of the circumstances 

 which kept our great traveller so long out of the reach of 

 civilisation, and of the work he still hopes to ac- 

 complish 



Mr. Stanley's account of his meeting with Livingstone 

 is a touching one. After many delays, on the 3rd of 

 November, 1S71, he came in sight of the outlying houses 

 of Ujiji, and, anxious to enter the African town with as 

 much c'l/dt as possible, he disposed his little band in such 

 a manner as to form a somewhat imposing procession. At 

 the head was borne the American flag ; next came .the 

 armed escort, who were directed to discharge their fire- 

 aims with as much rapidity as possible ; following these 

 were the baggage men, the horses, and asses ; and in the 

 rear of all came Mr. Stanley himself The din of the 

 firing aroused the inhabitants of Ujiji to the fact that 

 strangers were approaching, and they flocked out in great 

 crowds, filling the air with deafening shouts, and beating 

 violently on their rude musical instruments. 



As the procession entered the town Mr. Stanley observed 

 a group of Arabs on the right, in the centre of whom was 

 a pale-looking, grey-bearded, white man, whose fair skin 

 contrasted with the sunburnt visages of those by whom 

 he was surrounded. Passing from the rear of the proces- 

 sion to the front, the American traveller noticed the white 

 man was clad in a red woollen jacket, and wore upon his 



