lii-+l Kessel: Amorhae of Vulture Bats and Mke 323 



Councitmania ynuris and C. decumani recorded in this investigation 

 has been successful indicate that the environment in which a parasitic 

 amoeba may be found is not necessarily indicative of its species. This 

 possibility should always be taken into consideration before new 

 species are named and described. 



In this investigation, the different species of amoebae found in 

 rats and mice have been separated mainly on differences in pseudo- 

 podial formation and protoplasmic structure, on differences in the 

 nuclei found in the resting stage, for in the cysts a condition exists 

 primarily in which environmental factors are least influential, on the 

 differences in chromosome count, and on differences in the structure 

 of the chromatoidal bodies. 



CouncUmania muris belongs to the genus Cowncilmania because it 

 possesses chromophile ridges, reproduces by budding from the cyst in 

 the caecum, produces hj'aline pseudopodia, and possesses a dispersed 

 karyosome. It differs from C. lafleuri in size, and in the possession of a 

 very thin nuclear membrane upon which little or no chromatin is ever 

 encrusted. The granules in the karyosome are smaller and are more 

 dispersed in motile amoebae of this species than, in those of C. lafleuri. 

 It has six ehromasomes, while C. Iafleuriha.% eight. 



CouncUmania decumani belongs to the genus CouncUmania because 

 of its reproduction by budding from the cyst, because it produces 

 hyaline pseudopodia, and because of its dispersed karyosome. It 

 differs from C. lafleuri and from C. rnuris in that the kary^osome is 

 excentric and is more mas,sed than in either of these species, and in that 

 the nuclear membrane is more distinct and is encrusted with large 

 chromatin blobs. There is le.ss chromatoidal substance in this species 

 than in either C. lafleuri or C. muris, and there is not so pronounced a 

 chromophile ridge. This species has four chromosomes. 



Up to the present time no amoeba possessing granular and vacuo- 

 lated pseudopodia has been described from the rat or mouse. Balfour 

 (1922), however, did mention that on two occa.sions during his investi- 

 gation cysts of the E. coli type were noted from black rats. As he 

 also suggested that they were possibly the same as those found by 

 Brug (1919), we conclude that Balfour had no opportunity to differ- 

 entiate between E. coli of man and the coli-like and other amoebae of 

 the rat. 



If differences in the structure of pseudopodia have specific values, 

 as the extensive work of Penard (1904) and Schaeffer (1921) indi- 

 cates, it then follows that an amoeba which possesses hyaline pseudo- 



