C. Dobell 
161 
Grunow's case. Grunow (1901) has described at length a case of enteritis 
believed to be due to protozoa—probably coccidia. The patient, a workman 
aged 61, had suffered for some time from diarrhoea. In his stools Grunow 
found round “bodies’’ about to 8 g in diameter, but sometimes larger. 
These, for reasons which are not apparent, were regarded as probably coccidia. 
From the description it is not possible to identify them. At the post mortem 
examination the small intestine was found to be ulcerated, and in sections of 
it the author succeeded in finding in the villi some other “bodies'’ which he 
was likewise disposed to regard as coccidia. The size of these is given as 
“4*9--7*3 broad, 7*3-9*8 long” (presumably microns). Although there was 
nothing to prove that the bodies in the faeces were in any way connected 
with those in the villi, the author united them by the following curious argu¬ 
ment: “The parasites found in the faeces and in the mucous membrane are 
indeed different in form, nevertheless identical in their parasitic nature.” He 
concludes by deciding that they are all probably coccidia, and if so, then 
Coccidium bigeminum. Comment is needless. 
It is unnecessary to discuss this case in greater detail. There is not even 
the slenderest evidence that the various “bodies” in question were even pro¬ 
tozoa; and probably nobody acquainted with these organisms will, after 
reading Grunow’s account, be inclined to agree with him that his case was one 
of coccidiosis. 
To the foregoing cases I will add, for the sake of completeness, a few notes 
on certain others which are now generally recognized as not coccidial, though 
at one time held to be such. The most important of these are the cases of 
infection with the two organisms now known as Coccidioides and Rhino- 
sporidium : the rest are the very numerous cases in which “pseudo-coccidia " 
have been described and causally connected with divers diseases. 
Coccidioides. This organism is now known to be a fungus. It invades the 
skin, central nervous system, and other organs, giving rise to the disease 
generally known as “coccidioidal granuloma.” Some fifty cases are known, 
mostly from California. The parasite was discovered in S. America by Posadas, 
and considered by him and Wernicke (1892) to be a “ coccidium.” Rixford and 
Gilchrist (1896), who subsequently studied the parasite and the disease in 
detail, regarded the organism as a “protozoon,” of doubtful systematic 
position, and introduced the name Coccidioides immitis 1 for it—a name 
suggested by Stiles. It has since been cultivated by Wolbach (1904) and 
others, and appears to belong to the Oomycetes 2 . 
1 Hartmann (1912), in ignorance of the fact that the organism was already well known and 
named, has more recently proposed the name “ Blastosporidium school ” for it, believing it to be a 
“ Haplosporidian.” 
2 For further information and literature concerning this parasite, see—in addition to the 
authors cited above—Evans (1909) and Dickson (1915), 
11—2 
