188 
SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 
Parasite of Molluscum contagiosum.* — Mr. J. J. Clarke describes 
certain flagellate bodies which he has found in molluscum contagiosum, 
the contents of which were expressed and kept for four days in a capsule 
on blotting paper moistened with sterilized water at a temperature 
between 15° and 20°. The flagellate bodies are possessed of a rounded 
head about the size of a red corpuscle, and a single strong flagellum in 
constant movement. While many of the molluscum corpuscles were 
unaltered, some were reduced to a thin shell filled with bacteria, and 
others presented the appearance of a central liquefaction in which were 
numerous highly refracting particles in constant movement. 
Protozoa of Myomata. j — Dr. Vedeler finds that uterine myomata 
are infested by protozoa which are possibly the cause of these tumours. 
In size they vary from that of one to three or four times the bigness of 
a white corpuscle. Their shape is usually round to oval, though some 
possess a pseudopodal extension. They are possessed of a cytoplasm 
and nucleus with central nucleolus. In the larger specimens there is a 
vacuole. Though the parasites usually inhabit the cytoplasm of the 
muscle cell they are sometimes to be seen in the nucleus. They appear 
to multiply by fission and by spore formation. 
In order to demonstrate these parasites a myoma removed during life 
would appear to be necessary. This should be fixed in 5 per cent, 
aqueous solution of sublimate, after-hardened in alcohol and stained 
with eosin and hematoxylin. Sections should be made parallel to the long 
axis of the fibres. The body of the parasite stains brownish yellow, its 
nucleus blue, while the muscle cells are also blue. 
* Centralbl. f. Bakteriol. u. Parasitenk. (l te Abteilung), xvii. (1883) pp. 245- S 
(3 figs ). t Tom. cit., pp. 249-53 (52 figs.). 
