Abstract
Conclusion
Excluding the 14 hamsters sacrificed within the first week, F-23 which was too much decomposed for examination and F-29 which escaped, the per os experiment registers an infection of 12 out of 14 hamsters—a result comparable to that (9 out of 11) obtained by the Indian workers. Young and his associates in Peiping, working with the same parasites used in these experiments, may have failed to produce infection per os because they did not grind and dilute the organs used,' thereby facilitating phago-cytosis and absorption; furthermore, they made no cultures of the organs of animals fed with Leishmania donouani.
In these experiments, evidence of infection became apparent on the 7th day after feeding parasites and generalized parasitization was found on the 51st day. The majority (5 out of 7) died within the period of 100 to 200 days, the course of the infection being about the same as that after infection by the intraperitoneal route with very dilute emulsion of kala-azar organs.
No flagellate forms were noted in the contents of the gastrointestinal tract in an observation on 12 hamsters extended from half an hour to 4 days. This is to be expected as the medium was contaminated and temperature too high for transformation into flagellates.
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