Order 1.—Amœbina (Lobosa) naked or with a simple shell, sometimes formed of a foreign substance; the pseudopodia may be lobose or finger-shaped; there may be a contractile vacuole; generally only one nucleus. They live in fresh or salt water, in the soil, and also parasitically.
Order 2.—Foraminifera (Reticularia). Mostly provided with a calcareous shell, usually consisting of several chambers, and allowing the protrusion of the pseudopodia either at the periphery or only at the opening. The pseudopodia are filamentous and frequently anastomosed; there is no contractile vacuole; there are usually several nuclei. Mostly marine.
Order 3.—Heliozoa. Naked, or with a chitinous or simple radial siliceous skeleton; the pseudopodia are filamentous, and are frequently supported by firmer axes, which exhibit no tendency to anastomosis; there is a contractile vacuole; one or several nuclei. Live in fresh water.
Order 4.—Radiolaria. The body has radially-disposed filamentous pseudopodia, and the nucleus is hidden in the central capsule; there is almost always a siliceous framework, consisting of pieces arranged radially, tangentially, or lattice-like; there is no contractile vacuole, but fluid-containing hydrostatic vacuoles are present in the peripheral protoplasm. Marine.
Class II.—Mastigophora (Flagellata). Protozoa with one or several long flagella used for locomotion and for acquiring food; in stationary forms their only function is to take in food. Cytostome and contractile vacuole may be present. May be either naked or provided with protective coverings; one or more nuclei. They live either in fresh or salt water, or may be parasitic.
This class is again divided into several sub-classes and orders, of which only the Euflagellata, with the Protomonadina and Polymastigoda are of interest here.
Class III.—Sporozoa. Protozoa that only live parasitically in the cells, tissues, or organs of other animals. They ingest liquid food by osmosis; the surface of the body is covered with an ectoplasmic layer, or cuticle; they have no cilia in the adult state, but may form pseudopodia. Flagella occur, but only on the male propagating individuals. There may be one or numerous nuclei, but no contractile vacuole. Propagation by means of spores, mostly provided with sporocysts, is characteristic.
Sub-class 1.—Telosporidia. These are usually of constant form, rarely amœboid; they are uninucleate in the mature state; they live within host cells in the first stage. Spore-formation occurs at the end of the life-cycle.
Order 1.—Gregarinida. Body of a constant, usually elongate form, surrounded by a cuticle. In the early stage they lead an intracellular existence; in the mature stage they live within the intestine or body cavity of invertebrate animals, especially the Arthropoda, and, like intestinal parasites, are provided with clinging organs. Copulation usually isogamous; the spores have coats (chlamydospores) and usually contain several minute germs (sporozoites).
Order 2.—Coccidiidea. Body of uniform spherical or oval shape: they lead an intracellular life, but are not freely motile in cavities of the body. Fertilization is anisogamous; the spores have coats or shells (sporocysts), and usually contain several sporozoites. Exhibit alternation of generations.
Order 3.—Hæmosporidia. Parasites of the blood corpuscles of vertebrate animals; they exhibit amœboid movement; fertilization is anisogamous; many present alternation of generations and hosts; spores naked.
Sub-class 2.—Neosporidia. They are multinucleate when adult, and the form of the body varies exceedingly (often amœboid); spore-formation commences before the completion of growth.
Order 1.—Myxosporidia. The spores have valvular coats, with or without caudal appendages, with two, rarely four, polar capsules. They live free in such organs as the gall or urinary bladder, but are chiefly found in connective tissue. They occur especially in fishes.
Order 2.—Microsporidia. Spores with coats or sporocysts; no caudal appendage, with one polar capsule. They usually live in the tissues of Arthropoda.
Order 3.—Sarcosporidia. Elongate parasites of the muscular fibres of amniotic vertebrates, on rare occasions they occur also in the connective tissue; the spores, which are kidney or sickle-shaped, are naked and apparently have no obvious polar capsule.
Order 4.—Haplosporidia. Simple organisms, forming simple spores; they occur in Rotifers, Polychætes, Fish and Man.
Class IV.—Infusoria (Ciliata). The body is generally uniform in shape, with cilia and contractile vacuole, frequently also with cytostome; usually has macro- and micro-nucleus; live free in water and also parasitically.
The orders Holotricha, Heterotricha, Oligotricha, Hypotricha and Peritricha are classified according to the arrangement of the cilia.
Class V.—Suctoria. Bodies with suctorial tubes, contractile vacuoles, macro- and micro-nucleus, no cytostome. They generally invade aquatic animals as cavity parasites, yet also attack plants; early stage ciliated. Live sometimes as parasites on Infusoria. [The Suctoria are frequently regarded as a sub-class of the Infusoria.]
The Protozoa and Protophyta are sometimes united under the term Protista (Haeckel, 1866). The Spirochætes are Protists (see pp. 114–128).
Class I. SARCODINA, Bütschli, 1882. Order. Amœbina, Ehrenberg. A. Human Intestinal Amœbæ.
The first record of the occurrence of amœba-like organisms in the human intestine, that is, in intestinal evacuations, was that of Lambl (1859); nevertheless, the case was not quite conclusive, as the occurrence of testaceous amœbæ of fresh water (Arcella, Difflugia) was also reported. In 1870 Lewis found amœbæ associated with disorders of the large intestine in patients in Calcutta. A year later Cunningham reported from the same locality that he had observed on eighteen occasions, in one hundred examinations of dejecta from cholera patients, colourless bodies with amœboid movements, which became encysted and multiplied by fission. The daughter forms were said to be capable of dividing again, but they might also remain in contact. Contractile vacuoles were not noticed. The same bodies were observed also in simple diarrhœa (twenty-eight cases out of one hundred.)
Fig. 1.—Amœba coli, Lösch, in the intestinal mucus. (After Lösch.)
The case reported by Lösch in 1875 attracted more attention. It was that of a peasant, aged 24, who came from the province of Archangel. He was admitted into Eichwald’s clinic at Petrograd with symptoms of dysentery. In the discharges containing blood and pus, Lösch found amœbæ in large numbers. When at rest these amœbæ measured from 20 µ to 35 µ; in a state of movement their length might extend up to 60 µ (fig. 1). The pseudopodia appeared only singly, and, since they were hyaline (ectoplasmic), were thus distinguished from the markedly granular endoplasm that enclosed a spherical nucleus of from 5 µ to 7 µ in diameter. One or more non-contractile vacuoles were present. Quinine enemata had the effect of making the amœbæ disappear from the fæces and thus causing the diarrhœa to abate. Four months after admission the patient died from the results of intercurrent pneumonia. At the autopsy ulceration of the large intestine was found, especially in the lower parts. Lösch connected the amœbæ with the ulcerations by experiments made on four dogs by injecting them with recently passed stools (per os et anum). Eight days after the last injection numerous amœbæ were found in the fæces of one of these dogs; eighteen days after the injection the animal was killed. The mucosa of the rectum was inflamed, covered with blood-stained mucus and ulcerated in three places. Numbers of amœbæ were found both in the pus of the ulcers and in the mucus. The three other dogs remained healthy.