692 
SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 
Parasite of Perophora annectens.* — Mr. W. E. Ritter gives a short 
account of an interesting tentaculiferous Infusorian found parasitic on 
the tentacles and near the peripharyngeal band of this new species of 
Ascidian. It is impossible as yet to be certain of its affinities, but 
it is probable that they are rather with Podophrya than with Sphsero- 
phrya. 
Morbific Effect of certain Vorticellse.f — According to Herr Lindner 
there is a variety of stemless Vorticella found on the hairy scalp of man 
and the hair of some animals which produces irritating eruptions. This 
is called V. ascoidium, and has been cultivated in bouillon, blood-serum, 
milk, &c. 
The author has also found similar stemless Vorticellse in the 
secretion of respiratory mucosa, in the stools of typhoid patients, and 
in canal water, and he is disposed to consider them a variety of V. micro- 
stoma. In decomposing matter these Ciliata have their chief breeding 
places. 
Vorticella germs can be kept for a month, either dry or moist, without 
losing their vitality and power of development. The author smeared a 
dog with vorticella fluid. This produced itching, and the dog after 
licking the surface took ill with fever, diarrhoea, and much distension. 
Three days after the dog died. Cultivations were made from the blood 
and from the faeces in meat extract solution. From the blood, living 
Vorticellse developed in a few days, while the cultivations from the faeces 
were negative. 
Growth of Euglena confined to two dimensions of space.J — Dr. 
J. A. Ryder has been engaged in observations on specimens of Euglena 
viridis growing for several weeks in a Maupas moist-chamber on a slide 
under a cover-glass ; the result of this condition of restraint was that 
nearly all of the planes of the first segmentations, after quiescence or 
ency station, had to proceed as if forced to adjust themselves at right 
angles to the plane of the narrow, flat space in which the organisms 
were confined. They were found to multiply in four ways : — (1) There 
was direct fission of the free-swimming, flagellate, adult organism ; 
(2) The adult passed into a round resting-spore stage, which grew and 
segmented without a gelatinous envelope, and eventually produced an 
adult ; (3) The adult passed into a round resting-spore stage, which 
after growth and segmentation produced a gelatinous envelope ; this 
eventually deliquesced, and very small flagellate young escaped ; (4) The 
adult passed into a resting-spore stage or a free-swimming spore germi- 
parous condition, in which a large endoplast was developed ; from this 
a large number of exceedingly minute flagellate germs escaped ; these 
grew and became creeping amoeboid forms, which eventually grew into 
adult Euglense. 
The second and third of these methods do not seem to have been 
hitherto described ; the second is especially interesting as some of the 
forms of cleavage it manifests under restraint to two dimensions of space 
* Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci., iv. (1893) pp. 57-9 (2 figs.). 
t Deutsche Med. Zeit., 1894, p. 587. See Centralbl. f. Bakteriol. u. Parasitenk., 
xvi. (1894) p. 535. 
X Contrib, Zool. Lab. Univ. Pennsylvania, i. (1893) pp. 37-50 (1 pi.). 
