72 
SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 
Amoebae in Abscess of Jaw.* — Dr. S. Flexner records a case oi 
abscess of the lower jaw in which amoebae were found in the pus on 
microscopical examination. The pus evacuated contained a large num- 
ber of bacteria, pus-cells, detritus, red-corpuscles, and larger cells 
possessing the power of altering their form. These cells, recognized 
as Amoebae, were most numerous in the thicker portion of the discharge. 
The author describes the parasite under two forms, the mobile and the 
resting. In the resting state they were either round or oval, and more 
highly refractive than leucocytes. No division into ectosarc and endo- 
sarc was observed, but vacuoles were seen in both the resting and active 
conditions. The movements were progressive in character, consisting 
in the extension and retraction of pseudopodia. The pseudopodia were 
usually blunt. The peripheral zone of protoplasm was homogeneous 
and less refractive than the central part. The contents of the Amoeba 
consisted of granular material, vacuoles, and red-corpuscles. 
Muscle Degeneration in Barbel from presence of Myxosporidia.j — 
M. P. Thelohan, who has made repeated investigations into the Myxo- 
sporidia disease of the barbel ( Barbus Jluviatilis ), states that the presence 
of Myxosporidia in muscle leads to a vitreous degeneration of the fibres. 
The degenerated fibres are thoroughly destroyed by the action of phago- 
cytes, and in consequence become transformed into fibrous tissue, and 
hence the spores of the Myxosporidia are eventually found enclosed in 
fibrinous cysts. An outbreak of tumours on the body of the barbel is 
not of unfrequent occurrence. From these tumours is evacuated a mass 
containing spores and not unlike pus; but this affection is the result of 
the presence of a large bacillus which rapidly liquefies gelatin, forming 
large white or yellowish-white colonies. It is easily stained and in- 
oculated on rabbits, producing local abscesses. In the degenerated 
muscular tissue of barbel affected with myxosporidia disease the bacillus 
finds favourable conditions for its development. 
Sarcosporidia of the Gecko, Sheep, and Swine, if — Dr. A. Bertram 
describes the Sarcosporidia found in the muscular fibres of Platydactylus 
facetanus as tubes 2 mm. long and 0-4 mm. broad, which are enclosed 
in a bilaminated investing membrane ; from the inner layer proceed 
membranous processes to the interior of the tube and form a system of 
closed chambers, of which those situated peripherally are quite filled 
with sickle-shaped bodies 0 • 003-0 * 004 mm. long ; towards the centre the 
number of spores materially diminishes, and many of the central cham- 
bers merely contain granular masses. Earlier developmental stages were 
not observed. 
Researches as to spore development of Sarcocystis MiescJieri , a sarco- 
sporidium found in the muscle of pigs, were without result. These 
formations are also invested with a double membrane, the thickness of 
which is not dependent on the size of the tube. As in Sarcocystis 
platydactyli there is a system of cavities filled with sickle-shaped bodies 
heaped up into balls. 
* Johns Hopkins Hospital Bull., iii. (1892) pp. 104-6. 
t CR. Soc. Biol. Paris, v. (1893) pp. 267-70. See Centralbl. f. Bakteriol. u. 
Parasitenk., xiv. (1893) p. 532. 
X Zool. Jahrb. (J. W. Spengel) Abth. f. Morph., v. (1892) pp. 581-604 (3 pis.). 
See Centralbl. f. Bakteriol. u. Parasitenk., xiv. (1893) pp. 499-500. 
