ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 
355 
the amoeboid stage the Amoebae exhibit movements effected either by the 
whole mass, or by means of processes. They incorporate solid particles 
such as bacteria, spores, and red corpuscles. The only observed method 
of reproduction was by division. Spore-formation was never detected. 
The contents of the cystic form become granular, a crack appears in tho 
cyst wall ; through this the contents escape and two young Amoebae arc 
formed. This process was watched in hanging-drop cultivations, and 
lasted from 24 to 72 hours. Both forms were able to survive a tempera- 
ture of 0°-15° for a considerable period, while 45° was soon fatal in 
the amoeboid stage and 60° in the encysted. To sunlight and drying 
they were more resistant, while to antiseptics and acids their resistance 
is slight. They were better able to withstand alkalies, e. g. 4*5 ccm. of 
carbonate of soda in 10 ccm. of the cultivation medium. Hence alka- 
linity of the medium is a necessity for their cultivation, though absolute 
purity was never obtained by either chemical or mechanical means. 
Further communications are promised. 
Interrelations of Myxosporidia.* — M. P. Thelohan, recalling the 
fact that there are some Myxosporidia which develope only two spores, 
asks whether they should be regarded as the primitive type, and answers 
the question in the affirmative. Not only do they exhibit the highest 
organization, but in the more degraded the number of spores is greater, 
and those that live in tissues have an enormous number of them. An 
exaggeration in the number of reproductive bodies is, as is well known, 
one of the most constant attributes of parasitism. 
Development of Coccidium oviforme in Bile-duct of Rabbits.f — 
Herr W. Podwyssozky has determined that when the young Coccidium 
or spore penetrates an epithelial cell of a bile-duct a vacuole appears to 
be formed in the cell plasma. In this hollow there is neither albuminous 
nor mucous fluid. Once within, the spore loses its spindle or fish-like form 
and becomes a spherical homogeneous little mass of protoplasm, the 
nucleus of which appears as a clear vesicle with a dark-staining 
nucleolus. As the Coccidium grows larger, its protoplasm becomes 
more granular. Young intracellular Coccidia are possessed of a cres- 
centiform body of unknown import and previously undescribed. This 
body the author suggests is of a decidual nature, and is not observable 
in the adult condition. The process of spore-formation is marked by 
extraordinary polymorphism, the size and number of these fish-like 
spores appearing to be directly associated with the size of the adult and 
conditions of space. Infection of the liver cells was once observed, and 
in these cells the vacuoles were found to contain mucus, and the Coccidia 
seemed able to retain their spindle shape, which is never the case in the 
epithelial cells of the bile-ducts. In both, i.e. in the hepatic and bile- 
duct cells, the presence of Coccidia leads to flattening and compression 
of the cell nucleus, the cell itself being greatly distended, and finally 
disappearing from atrophy. 
Parasite' of Skin Cancer.J — Prof. M. Kurloff describes a cancer 
parasite which has much resemblance to the ffliopalocephalus carcinoma - 
* Comptes Rendus, cxviii. (1894) pp. 428-30. 
f Centralbl. f. Bakteriol. u. Parasitenk., xv. (1894) pp. 481-5. 
j Tom. cit., pp. 341-9 (1 pi., 9 figs.). 
2 b 2 
