PROGRESS IN PROTOZOOLOGY

INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION AMONG PROTOZOOLOGISTS 303-
fore, parasitology was well represented, with emphasis upon the problems
of parasitism and symbiosis — about 50°/o of all contributions. According
to tradition, strong emphasis was also placed upon morphogenesis and
morphology; taxonomy; and evolution. The biochemical and physiological
sections had, like those in the preceding Congress, a rather heterogeneous
character. Among them was a round-table discussion of thebehavioral,
physiological, and molecular aspects of movement.
The Sixth Congress, held in Warsaw in 1981, was not as well attended
as the previous ones, with 392 participants from 34 countries. On
the basis of preregistration, the organizers had anticipated about 500.
Nonetheless, and despite numerous difficulties, the meeting in Warsaw
was a great success, characterized by a very friendly atmosphere. Theexperience
gained from the previous meetings or Congresses was utilized,,
and there was an attempt to balance several types of presentation
for the exchange of information. Of special importance during the deliberations
in Warsaw was the round-table discussion in which panel
members attempted to reconcile numerous questions in the realm of
systematics and phylogeny of protozoa.
In analyzing the past Congresses, it is easy to note the changes of
direction in protozoology which occurred between 1961 and 1981. Certain
subjects predominated during the first two Congresses, to which lesstime
was given in the later ones, reflecting these changes. From the
Prague Congress to the Warsaw Congress, there was a steady improvement
in organization, continually aiming at more suitable and varied
forms of presentation. The Congresses of Protozoology never became
gigantic, and this renders them especially conducive to preserving old
and establishing new contacts among protozoologists, providing a very
successful forum for the free exchange of ideas.
The accompanying Table 1 contains the numbers of authors and the
numbers of their summaries or abstracts that were printed in the Pro-
Table l
The numbers of abstracts and the numbers of authors of the abstracts
published in the Proceedings ("Progress in Protozoology") of the
several Congresses held to date
International Congress of Protozoology
No. of
abstracts
No. of
authors
I Prague (1961) 192 230
II London (1965) 374 467
III Leningrad (1969) 492 623
IV Clermont-Ferrand (1973) 479 525
V New York (1977) 478 745
VI Warsaw (1981) 418 866
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