284 
Intestinal Protozoa in Termites 
It seems highly probable that the knob itself is made of the substance of 
the axial filament. According to Porter’s description, there is, in the American 
forms, a knob and a long filament (“peduncle” in his terminology), and the 
latter is inserted deeply into the intestinal wall. Sections of the intestinal 
wall of our termites were carefully studied, but I failed to recognize the 
existence of any structure corresponding to the “peduncle” of Porter. The 
splinter-like filaments in our forms are no other than artifacts, being pro¬ 
duced artificially in preparing the animalcules for examination; and they are 
undoubtedly merely fibrous fragments or strips of the chitinous lining of the 
intestine. Similar structures to those just described have been observed in 
a species of Pyrsonympha by Comes (1910), but his interpretation of them is 
very different. He regards the frayed-out chitinous end as a tuft of con¬ 
solidated flagella, and the knob as a blepharoplast: and proposes on account 
of this peculiar condition of the “flagella” to place the organism in a new 
genus Lophophora. As already noted, I agree with Grassi (1911) that this name 
should be regarded as a synonym of Pyrsonympha (Dinenympha of Grassi). 
The nucleus is rather large and is situated at the anterior end of the body. 
It does not lie freely in the endoplasm but is closely connected with both the 
axial filament and the body wall, so that its shape is subject to modification, 
according to the state of contraction or extension of the anterior portion of 
the body. In the small club-shaped forms with slender bodies, the nucleus is 
also club-shaped and lies closely along the axial filament (PL XIY, fig. 54). In 
the large sized forms the nucleus is piriform, or rather triangular in outline, 
invariably much narrowed, or pointed, at the anterior pole. The nucleus 
becomes triangular, quadrangular, or semicircular in outline when the anterior 
part of the body is thickened. The anterior pole of the nucleus is found at 
the anterior tip of the body or in its vicinity, and it can be clearly seen in 
many organisms that the nucleus and the axial filament are kept in close 
connexion at their anterior ends. In many cases, the contour of the nucleus 
is smoothly rounded, except at the anterior pole; but in individuals abnormally 
thickened anteriorly it appears peaked at a few other points, and then it can 
be clearly seen that it is not only joined to the axial filament at another point, 
but also at one, two, or sometimes more points to the body wall. In Text- 
fig. C, a-g , several forms showing the modes of attachment of the nucleus 
are depicted. In the majority of cases, the peaked points of the nucleus 
touching the axial filament are directly attached to it. But in exceptional 
cases, the pointed anterior pole of the nucleus is found somewhat separated 
from the tip of the filament and connected with it by means of a thread. Once 
I met with a specimen in which the nucleus was rounded at its anterior tip, 
and connected with the tip of the filament by a funnel-like membrane 
(Text-fig. C, d). It thus seems probable that it is not the nuclear membrane 
itself that comes in contact with the filament, at least at the anterior pole, 
but that there is a membranous structure or sac, which invests the nucleus 
very tightly, and is kept in connexion with the axial filament and the body 
