234 The Philippine Journal of Science ms 



Were these bodies trichomonads undergoing Hadley's auto- 

 gamous reproduction in the tissues? Undoubtedly the turkey 

 that formed the material for Smith's study was infected with 

 Coccidium, and parasites found in the epithelial cells were, ac- 

 cording to Smith, clearly coccidia. It was the collection of bodies 

 in the subepithelial tissues that was regarded by him as repre- 

 senting something different. However, he considered them to be 

 aberrant coccidia, and the possibility of their being trichomonads 

 is not discussed by him. 



Going back to Hadley's account of Trichomonas, we note that 

 this author mentions the engulfing of the flagellates by endothe- 

 lial and other phagocytic cells. This, in many cases, seems to 

 have had no untoward effect upon the parasites, which showed 

 a marked resistance to the phagocytes and even seemed to divide 

 within them. Instances in which infection with microorganisms 

 is spread by phagocytes are known. Hepatozoon pernicios-um, 

 a sporozoan parasite of the rat, has been described by Miller (32) 

 as passing a portion of its life cycle in encysted form in the 

 large lymphocytes of the rat, and protozoan parasites of leuco- 

 cytes have been long known. Hadley believes that the protozoa 

 in his case use the host phagocyte as food and that they may, 

 indeed, fare better within than without the phagocytic cells. In 

 the regions of the invaded tissue he has found the majority of 

 the parasites present in phagocytic cells, which he cites as proof 

 of the role the phagocytes play in spreading the infection. 



In the lumen of the intestine the trichomonads are holozoic 

 forms, subsisting largely on the bacteria found there. In the 

 tissues their morphology is markedly altered, and the evidence, 

 according to Hadley, indicates the substitution of an osmotic 

 method of nutrition. A point is raised here as to whether or 

 not all tissue-dwelling forms are nourished by absorption or 

 whether such forms as Entamoeba and Balantidium do not con- 

 tinue to nourish themselves by the holozoic method. If, in the 

 tissues, Trichomonas becomes virtually an amoeba, does it take 

 in solid food or does it derive its support from fluid substance 

 absorbed through the body wall? 



Hadley states that although the motile forms can be recognized 

 in the tissues, as can some of the sporulating forms, these are 

 relatively scarce, and the stage that shows the well-rounded ball 

 of reserve food substance, which appears to be in the nature of 

 glycogen, is seldom encountered. Further details as to the ap- 

 pearance of these parasites in the tissues are necessary before 

 any final conclusions can be drawn regarding the presence of 

 an altered form of Trichomonas in the human intestine. 



