1 8 MALARIA 



sisting of three well-defined stages, viz. : the cold 

 stage (the chill), in which the skin becomes pale and 

 appears as "goose skin," the patient's teeth chatter, 

 and he shivers more or less violently ; the next stage 

 is the hot stage, or fever (the temperature rises during 

 the chill), the skin being now hot and flushed ; the third 

 stage is manifested by the appearance of perspiration, 

 which becomes general all over the body ; the fever 

 falls, and the patient becomes normal. In many cases 

 the stages are not easily distinguishable. 



The term "malarial fever" is quite commonly applied 

 to many conditions of malaise associated with fever. 

 It is not safe to conclude that the case is malaria until 

 a microscopical examination of the blood indicates 

 the presence of the intracorpuscular parasites or 

 crescents (Fig. i). 



The Parasite. — The malarial parasites {Plasmodia) 

 belong to the lowest forms of animal life, the Protozoa 

 (Subphylum Sporozoa, Class Telosporida, Sub-class 

 Hcemosporida). The pigment of these blood -cor- 

 puscle- inhabiting parasites is black and character- 

 istic, and their presence usually gives rise to a periodic 

 fever, due to their asexual reproduction (sporulation) 

 in the human blood at regular intervals. 



To detect the presence of the parasite a drop of 

 blood is drawn from the lobe of the patient's ear or 

 finger tip, after proper cleansing, the droplet of blood 

 being lightly touched with a glass microscopical slide, 

 upon which the film (smear) is made by gently and 



