64 



What happens when the Merozoites go free in the Blood 

 Plasma ? 



They enter the blood corpuscles, and, behaving as sporo- 

 zoites, go through the whole schizogony cycle, which in that 

 way is repeated for many generations. 



This prolific multiplication means great destruction of 

 blood corpuscles, checked only by the leucocytes which 

 attack the germs, and the result is onset of fever in the 

 infected individual, followed by anaemia and general 

 vitiation which may end fatally. 



Do all the Merozoites give rise to Sporozoites ? 



There is a limit to the repetition of schizogonous (asexual) 

 generations, and so ultimately there is the generation in 

 which some of the merozoites become sexually different 

 gametocytes. In Plasmodium falciparum these have a 

 characteristic sausage- like form, are known as " crescents," 

 and are therefore diagnostic of pernicious malaria. 



The gametocytes cannot, however, develop much further 

 in the human host ; they require to be transferred to the 

 intermediate host, the mosquito. 



When a Female Mosquito " bites " a Man suffering from 

 Malaria, what happens to the Germs sucked in 

 with the Blood ? 



Probably germs of various stages will be sucked in. 

 All are destroyed except the gametocytes, which alone 

 can resist digestion. 



Point out the difference between the Male and the Female 

 Gametocyte. 



The nucleus of the male is larger than that of the female ; 

 and the melanin granules are scattered in the male. l>ut 

 in the female surround the nucleus. 



