ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 
195 
Gregarines. A study of the development of these organisms will, the 
author hopes, afford a solution to the problems presented. 
Classification of Gregarines.* — Dr. P. Mingazzini describes JDidymo- 
phyes gigantea, one of the two species for which Stein established the 
family DidymophyidesB. This family was excluded by Schneider, 
Balbiani, and others, under the impression that the three segments were 
merely the result of the union of two individuals. Biitschli ignores the 
family altogether. Mingazzini, however, has studied the above species 
in the mesenteron of the larvae of Oryctes and Phyllognathus, and believes 
that it represents the highest morphological grade among Gregarines. 
There are indeed two individuals in a sense, but the union has become 
intimate, and the posterior individual is virtually a sac-like segment of 
the anterior portion. His classification is therefore as follows : — • 
A. Monocystidese, with a single unicellular segment ; the individuals 
are separate, or united (in “ apposition ”) by similar ends. 
B. Polycystideee, with two segments, of which the anterior bears a 
head ; the individuals are separate, or united (in “ opposi- 
tion ”) by dissimilar ends. 
C. Pidymophyidese, with three segments, of which the foremost 
bears a head ; the individual is the result of intimate 
conjugation by “ opposition.” 
Monads in the Blood in Influenza. f — Prof. Klebs, of Zurich, gives 
the results of his examination of the blood in cases of influenza. He 
finds a large number of highly refractile, mobile bodies, in size, form, 
and motility resembling bodies which he has met with in pernicious 
anosmia, but in far less quantity. No microcytes, such as occur in the 
latter disease, were to be seen. In a fatal case of influenza some blood 
was removed from the heart, with every precaution to avoid contamina- 
tion, and the “ monads ” were detected therein ; they varied somewhat in 
size, being oval in shape, and not only had vibratory movement, but 
were also capable of locomotion. They were often attached to the 
margin or imbedded in the substance of the blood-corpuscles. The 
organisms were distinctly flagellated, and in stained preparations their 
intimate connection with the corpuscles could be plainly shown. Pro- 
visionally, Prof. Klebs would assign them a place among the Ehizo- 
mastigina of the Monadinem, according to Biitschli’s classification of 
these protozoic forms. The Professor remarks that in other diseases in 
which similar Haematozoa have been discovered, as ague and pernicious 
anmmia, there is a tendency to intermittency in the type of fever ; and 
since influenza shows a like tendency — commonly styled relapse — he 
thinks it quite possible that such “ relapse ” is associated with stages in 
the development of the micro-organism. The pandemic spread of 
influenza is analogous to that of some forms of malaria, and this is quite 
conceivable when one recalls the atmospheric effects which ensued after 
the volcanic eruption of Krakatoa. Prof. Klebs suggests that much 
light might be obtained by analysis of the air during the prevalence of 
influenza on the method of Miquel. 
* Atti R. Accad. Lincei — Rond., v. (1889) pp. 231-9 (3 figs.), 
t Eugli.'ih Mechanic, 1890, p. 529. 
