458 
The Kurloff-Body 
Lencocytozoa {HaemogregarinaY of Bentley and Adie for he could not 
have arrived at such a belief if he had had any first hand knowledge of 
those organisms. Likewise in the controversy which ensued between 
him and Pappenheim it was entirely irrelevant to base any argument 
upon some rod-shaped bodies once observed by Auer in a case of acute 
lymphatic leukaemia in man, or upon a flagellated organism observed 
by Loewit in the blood of a patient 2^ost mortem. 
It was Patella’s observation that the Kurloff-bodies were most 
numerous in the blood of guinea-pigs confined in damp filthy cages, 
along with a similar observation of Balfour who noted that handling 
of the rats and dampness of the cages increased the prevalence of 
Haemogregarina halfouri, as well as the fact that the Kurloff-body is 
absent in the newly born guinea-pig, that led me to investigate the 
parasitic theory in regard to these bodies. 
My studies and experiments have been carried on continuously for 
one year and I am greatly indebted to Professor Wherry for much 
assistance in pursuing the investigation. Inasmuch as the Kurloff- 
body was found not to be a parasite I will simply outline the results of 
my work. 
It was my first duty to corroborate, if possible, the observations of 
Patella : Kurloff-bodies were patiently observed in wet blood prepara¬ 
tions for long periods of time without the reward of seeing flagella 
develop. As the mononuclear leucocyte containing the Kurloff-body 
changes its own form or moves, the Kurloff-body undergoes a corre¬ 
sponding change. Sevei’al times I was surprised to see how active the 
Brownian movement of particles of so-called haemocouien became when 
in the vicinity of a Kurloff-body—but this was simply of passing interest. 
The flagellate which occurs in an infusion of lettuce, endive, or carrots, 
was found to be a species of Bodo and the same species was found in the 
contents of the caeca of all guinea-pigs examined. 
With a further view to Patella’s theory I examined the epithelium 
of the small as wll as the large intestine for a possible ectoschizous or 
endoschizous phase of a parasite, and I likewise examined the cells of the 
mesenteric lymph nodes. All of the guinea-pigs contained Kurloff- 
bodies in the blood but in none did I find a Kurloff-body in the mesen¬ 
teric lymph nodes. 
My next procedure was to examine all of the organs of the body 'to 
find in which portion of the body the Kurloff-bodies occur most numer¬ 
ously. This was found to be in the pulp of the spleen. Here again 
1 For literature see Parasitology (1910), in. 71. 
