188 Drs Fantham and Porter, Notes on Certain Protozoa, etc. 
calomel treatment. Uzara tablets and extract of male fern have 
been recommended by certain investigators. 
Spirochaetes, some of them resembling S. ewrygyrata, Werner, 
were found in the faeces of certain patients. 
Ciliate Dysentery. 
Balantidium coli is the chief causal agent of ciliate dysentery. 
The parasite is relatively large, with an oval body, 60 to 100m — 
(or even 200) long by 50 to 70u broad. There is a funnel- 
shaped cytostome at one pole. The organism has a macronucleus — 
and a micronucleus, and two contractile vacuoles. A cytopyge 
is also present. Occasionally, ingested blood corpuscles are found 
in the endoplasm. The parasites form round cysts. 
A smaller species, Balantidiwm minutum, is ‘also known. 
Balantidia occur in the large intestine of man and in the 
rectum of the domestic pig. The parasites are able to pene- 
trate the intestinal walls of man and give rise to ulcers, though 
these are rare in pigs. Epidemics have also been recorded in 
monkeys. 
Cases of balantidiasis occur especially among swineherds, and 
farm hands dealing with pigs, pork butchers and persons engaged 
in similar occupations. Personal cleanliness of such people is, 
then, of the greatest importance, while pigs should be confined 
and not allowed to run in yards and dwellings. As swineherding 
is an important occupation in Serbia, the possibility of balan- 
tidial dysentery among troops operating in that country must 
be borne in mind. The disease is widely distributed in various 
parts of the world. 
Treatment. The use of thymol has yielded good results, 
and some have recommended the further use of de-emetinised 
ipecacuanha to destroy any persistent balantidia. Hnemata of 
collargol or protargol may be tried. The direct effect of eme- 
tine is disputed. 
