782 THE HSEMATOZOA OF BIRDS 



owls, pigeons, chaffinches, larks, etc.). These parasites, which have been 

 variously described as Halteridium, Hcemamcjeba, Proteosoma, Laverania and 

 Plasmodium, have been investigated by Danilewsky, Laveran, and by Grassi 

 and Feletti. According to Laveran they should all be included in the genus 

 Hcemamosba. 



Though the Hsematozoa found in different birds resemble each other very closely, 

 Laveran considers that they represent several species : 

 Hcemamceba relicta (PL relictum, Proteosoma of Labbe) : 

 Hcemamceba danilewskyi (Halteridium danilewskyi, PL danilewskyi) : 

 Hcemamceba ziemanni (PL ziemanni) : 

 Hcemamceba majoris. 



The Hsematozoa of birds are generally attached to the surface of or contained 

 within the red cells. Most commonly the parasites are spherical but occasionally 

 ovoid : they alter the shape of the infected blood cell which they gradually destroy 

 and thus become free in the blood. In the mature condition they may assume one 

 of two forms and these have been studied in the case of Hcemamceba danilewskyi by 

 MacCallum, Opie, and by Marchoux and Laveran. 



1. Finely granular forms, staining well with methylene blue and containing 

 scattered grains of pigment. Stained by Laveran's method (p. 772) the nucleus is 

 seen to be rounded or oval, situated towards the centre of the parasite and containing 



a. small karyosome: the nucleus is stained 

 violet and the karyosome a deep violet. 

 These represent the female elements. 



2. Hyaline forms containing large granules 

 of pigment at the extremities. These stain 

 feebly with blue, and have a large very 

 elongated nucleus with irregular outline and 

 occupying the whole of the centre of the 

 parasite : after leaving the red cell, these 

 parasitic forms assume a spherical shape 

 and give origin to .flagella. They represent 

 the male elements. The flagella are 4 to 6 

 in number on each parasite and have an 

 enlargement which varies in shape and 

 position : situated near the enlargement is a 

 mass of chromatin. 



After separating from the microgameto- 

 cyte the flagella meet, penetrate, and fertilize 

 cytes. the female cells. 



Segmented bodies or rosette forms are seldom 



seen (Danilewsky) and have never been met with in H. danilewskyi (Laveran) but 

 are found in H. relicta. 



H. relicta is a common parasite of sparrows in the Roman Campagna. The 

 examination of a drop of blood from an infected bird shows adult forms, spherical 

 or oval and pigmented, young unpigmented forms, segmented bodies, and micro- 

 gametocytes extruding flagella. Ross has shown that H. relicta passes a part of 

 its life-cycle in certain mosquitos (Culex pipiens) and that the infection is transmitted 

 by the bites of these insects. 



It is not proved that the Hsematozoa found in birds produce disease or cause fever. 

 As a rule birds infected with hsematozoa do not show any symptoms of disease, 

 but Danilewsky has shown that at certain times the birds become ill and may even 

 die, and that in these cases rosette forms are found in the blood. 



Birds cannot be infected with the human Hsematozoa, but are susceptible to 

 infection with infected blood from birds of the same species (Celli and Sanfelice, 

 Laveran). 



Mattei failed to produce infection by inoculating infected pigeon's blood into the 

 veins of a man. 



Quinine though eminently efficient against the Hsematozoa of man has no action 

 on the Hsematozoa of birds. 



Methods of examination. Blood is obtained by pricking one of the veins 



