16

in the immediate neighbourhood of ulcers), in the blood from the portal vein
and in punctiform hæmorrhages.

     The origin of the bodies seems to me very obscure, and I am not satisfied
that they are a form inhabiting the red cell at any stage.

     I can trace only a superficial resemblance to piroplasma in cattle and in the dog.

     Since Laveran has given so decided a verdict I can only say that the differ-
ences between the two forms appear so great that strong evidence of their affinity
must be forthcoming before the new parasite can be placed in the genus Piro-
plasma.

     If the parasite were present in the red blood cells, if it presented a distinctly
pear shaped form, and if there were evidence of binary fission, the grounds for
doing so would no doubt be sufficient. But most of the bodies resembling red
cells are undoubtedly the fragmented protoplasm of leucocytes and macropha-
ges, and the fact that the bodies are present in red cells cannot be said to have
been proved. The pear-shaped form seems to be but one aspect of bodies which
have a shape something like a cockle-shell. The binary fission of the bodies
seems to me to be quite different from that seen in piroplasmata.

     Until the relation or want of relation between the bodies and the red blood
cell is clearly proven I think it premature to make any remarks as to their zoolo-
gical affinities. The unyielding shape, the apparent possession of a cuticle, and
the arrangement of the two chromatin masses, seem to me to point to an organism
very distinct from one of the genus Piroplasma, and to be very suggestive of the
spores of a Microsporidian.

7. The nature of the so-called " Zooglea Mass."

     Manson and Low have described the substance in which the parasites are
frequently contained as a " Zooglea mass." That the substance is the proto-
plasm of the large cells in the liver and spleen capillaries is evident from the
examination of sections. That these large cells are not themselves parasitic
is I think demonstrated by their resemblance to the macrophages in malaria and
by the presence in specimens from one case of malarial pigment in these cells
along with the bodies in question (Fig. 27).

Papers referred to in the text.

    1. Leishman in the British Medical Journal of May 30th, 1903.

    2. Donovan in the British Medical Journal of July 11th, 1903.

    3. Donovan in the Indian Medical Gazette of January 1904.

    4. Laveran and Mesnil, Comptes rendus des séances de l'academie des
sciences, 7th December 1903.

    5. Ross in the British Medical Journal of November 14th, 1903.

    6. Marchand and Ledingham in the Lancet of January 16th, 1904.

    7. Manson and Low in the British Medical Journal of January 23rd, 1904.

    8. Wright, Protozoa in a case of tropical ulcer (Delhi sore). The Journal
of Medical Research, Vol. X, No. 3. (New series, Vol. V, No. 3). December
1903.