Nyctotherus giganteus, P. Krause, 1906.
Under the name Balantidium giganteum n. sp., P. Krause described an Infusorian which was repeatedly observed with Trichomonas intestinalis in the alkaline evacuations of a typhoid patient in Breslau. The body is ovoid, narrower and rounded anteriorly and broader and stunted posteriorly. The peristome lies to one side; the macronucleus is bean-shaped, the micronucleus small and globular; one or two vacuoles are present. The anus is at the farther end. The organism is 90 µ to 400 µ long, 60 µ to 150 µ broad (fig. 117). After a prolonged stay outside the body, it becomes rounded and encystment occurs. In the thermostat the Infusoria remain alive at 37° C. for five weeks.
The species, however, hardly belongs to Balantidium, but to all appearances is a Nyctotherus and is distinguished from N. faba by the difference in size.
[Nyctotherus] africanus, Castellani, 1905.
In the fæces of a native of Uganda who suffered from sleeping sickness and diarrhœa and had in his intestine Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichocephalus trichiurus and Ancylostoma duodenale, Castellani found a curiously shaped Infusorian, 40 µ to 50 µ long, and 35 µ to 40 µ broad, with spherical macro- and micronucleus and a contractile vacuole (fig. 118). He included the organism in the genus Nyctotherus, perhaps wrongly, or the parasite may have been deformed. After the patient’s death the same parasite was found in the intestine and especially in the cæcum.
Fig. 117.—Nyctotherus giganteus. (After Krause.)