Page:Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, volume 2 (3).djvu/5



after my return to England I was asked to read a paper on "Kala-Azar" before this Society, and on considering what particular aspect of the disease I was most competent to deal with, I decided to limit myself to the parasite, so to-night I propose to give you some account of my observations on this organism and its allies. I have no doubt you are all well acquainted with the parasite, the discovery of which has opened up an entirely new field of research of great practical importance. Although we now know a great deal about it and its two allies, the parasites of infantile splenomegaly and Oriental sore, there is considerable doubt as to their exact systematic position. Laveran and Mesnil, I believe, still regard the parasite of kala-azar as belonging to the genus Piroplasma, while you will remember Ross placed it as an entirely new genus, Leishmania. The view