PROWAZEKIA 



339 



Genus Prowazekia Hartmann and Chagas, 1910. 



Definition. — Bodonidce with a kinetonucleus. 



Type. — Prowazekia cruzi Hartmann and Chagas, 1910 . 



The separation of the old genus Bodo sensu lato into Bodo sensii 

 sfricto and Prowazekia is not at present generally accepted; for 

 example, Alexeieff and others oppose it, stating that the generic 

 name for all the species included under Prowazekia should be Bodo, 

 while that for the only species at present under Bodo— viz., 

 B. lacertcB Grassi, 1881 — -should he Prowazekella (new genus) lacertcB 

 Grassi, 1881. Nor is this the only confusion with regard to Prowa- 

 zekia, for one species — P. iirinaria Hassall, 1859 — has been found in 

 urine which has been passed for six hours or more in the Temperate 

 Zone; and three species— P. <^sm/^c^? Castellani and Chalmers, 1910, 

 Ceylon; P. cruzi Hartmann and Chagas, 1910, Brazil; P. weinbergi 

 Mathis and Leger, 1910, Indo-China — are found in faeces; while one 

 form — P. parva Naegler, 1910 — •lives in slime on stones at Lunz. 



All observers are agreed that these flagellates are non-pathogenic, 

 but the question which is debated is whether they are accidental 

 contaminations of the urine and faeces after being passed out of the 

 body, and the urine problem is further complicated by the question 

 as to whether it was contaminated by the faeces. 



With regard to the urinary species, it has been found by Hassall 

 in 1859, Salisbury in 1868, Kunstler in 1883, and Stinton in 1912. 

 He obtained it only twice from the same patient, who was in a hos- 

 pital ward in Liverpool, and in none of the other patients in the 

 ward ; it was not found in the faeces, nor in a vessel of water exposed 

 to the air of the ward, nor in the water-supply. It was not present 

 in later observations taken aseptically, and cultures died rapidly at 

 37° C. It is therefore concluded to be an accidental contamination. 



The intestinal forms are not so easily dismissed, as we have found 

 them in stools collected in sterile petri-dishes, and Mathis and 

 Leger found their species in the faeces of persons in good health and 

 sufiering from diarrhoea, even when taken with aseptic precautions. 

 It is possible, therefore, that some, at all events, of the intestinal 

 forms are harmless occasional parasites of man. 



Classification. — -The species may be differentiated as follows :— 



A. Posterior flagellum free: — 



I . Large forms . More than 3 microns in length as a rule : — 



(a) Shape oval : — • 



1. Rhizoplast present : — ■ 



(1) Cytostome pYesent— Urinaria. 



(2) Cytostome absent — Asiatica and vaginalis, 



2. Rhizoplast absent — Cruzi. 



(b) Shape pyriform: — • 

 Apex sharp- — Weinbergi. 



II. Small forms. Not exceeding 8 microns in length— P^rt;^. 



B. Posterior flagellum attached to the body for a short distance 



— Javanensis. 



