Archives of Internal Medicine Volume 5 (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1910 Excerpt: ...measures from 6 to 7 microns in length and is slightly broader than the tertian microgametocyte. Both are kidneyshaped rather than crescentic, a fact which renders their differentiation from the estivo-autumnal macrogametes a matter of little difficulty. The protoplasm is less opaque and granular than that of the macrogametes, while the pigment is in finer particles and may be distributed throughout the protoplasm of the crescent or even collected in clumps at one pole of the crescent. The pigment is generally sluggishly motile, while the parasites are still intracellular and become very actively so just prior to flagellation. After the total destruction of the red corpuscle in which they have developed, the estivo-autumnal microgametocytes flagellate in the same manner as do the microgametocytes of the tertian and quartan plasmodia. The kidney shape is lost, the organism becoming ovoid and round; the pigment becomes very motile; the protoplasm appears violently agitated; and suddenly the microgametes are extruded as very delicate, motile filaments, numbering from two to four, and, rarely, even more. After lashing about for a while the microgametes become detached from the parent body and disappear among the red corpuscles. This process occurs naturally in the middle intestine of the mosquito, but may frequently be witnessed in blood containing microgametocytes, after it has been removed for some time. The quotidian estivo-autumnal microgametocyte differs from that of the tertian estivo-autumnal species in the following particulars: smaller size, seldom measuring over 7 microns in length; the smaller amount of pigment; and the very plump shape of the organism, closely resembling that of a lima-bean. The Living Microgametes.--The microgametes of the estivo-a...