FLAGELLATA, a group of Protozoa, sometimes regarded as a division of the class Infusoria, sometimes as a distinct class by itself. The group is characterized by having a body wild fanaticism and by strange doctrines which were condemned by the Council of Constance. The burning alive of their leader, Conrad Schmidt, and 90 of his followers, in 1369, par tially checked the project, though the extirpa tion of the sect was found a work of extreme difficulty. One form of fanaticism • which marked some of the Flagellants was violent hatred and persecution of Jews. Generally speaking the Flagellants gradually disappeared, beginning with the 14th century. There were, however, spasmodic and more or less isolated revivals, as in France in the 16th century, in Germany in the 17th century, and in various countries outside of Europe, especially in South America, frequently as a result of over-zealous attempts at conversion on the part of religious orders. The most striking example, perhaps, of this last type of Flagellants were the Her manos Penitentes amongst converted Indians of New Mexico and Colorado who as late as the end of the 19th century practised ceremonial flagellation going frequently to great excesses in spite of attempts of civil and ecclesiastic form usually fixed and definite for the species, and by having as organs for locomotion and taking of food one or more long vibratile whip lash-like processes, the °flagella.° Like all Pro
tozoa (q.v.) the body is composed of a single cell. The group is divided into three orders: Autoflagellata, Dinoflagellata and Cystoflagel iota. In the Autoflagellata the body is usually oval and has both nucleus and contractile vacuoles; sometimes the body is naked and ca pable of amceboid motions, hut usually it has a cuticle, and enveloping cases are not uncom mon. In one sub-order (Choanoflagellata) a peculiar collar-like structure is developed around the flagellum. Some of the group closely approximate plants, some forms like Euglena and Volvox being claimed by the bot anist. A few are human parasites. The Dino flagellata have a firm external armor of hard cellulose plates, divided by a groove around the body, and with a second longitudinal groove. At the junction of the two grooves are the two flagella, one lying in the circular groove, the other projecting freely. These forms occur in salt and fresh water. In the Cystoflagellata the large gelatinous body is enclosed in a stout membrane. The best-known form is Noctiluca (q.v.), noted for its phosphorescent powers. These minute creatures exist in countless swarms and form the food of a host of marine creatures a little larger or higher in rank of organization.