HOMOGREGARINA. 



133 



without causing much alteration beyond displacement of 

 nucleus. 



Dimensions. — 14-16 /u. in length. 



Remarks. — Plimmer found the host-ceUs often deformed and 

 generally diminished in size. Johnstone (1912) regards 

 H. pococki Sambon as identical and synonymous with 

 H. pythonis (BUlet). 



Habitat. — Blood of Python molurus (Linn.) : Madras, 

 Madras ; also in specimens from India in the Zoological 

 Gardens, London. 



58. Hsemogregarina rara Laveran & Mesnil. (Fig. 58.) 



fHsemogregarina rara, Laveran & Mesnil, 1902, p. 611. 

 Haemogregarina rara, Castellani& Chalmers. 1919, p. 487 ; Wenyon, 

 1926, p. 1395. 



Intra-corpuscular or free. The intra -corpuscular form is 

 elongate or curved into the shape of an arc, with one of the 

 extremities rounded and the other more or less attenuate. 

 Sometimes the parasite lies in one part of the corpuscle without 

 displacing its nucleus, at other times it is strongly recurved, 

 and the nucleus of the corpuscle is pushed to one end. When 

 the organism is liberated from the corpuscle it is fusiform, 



A B 



Fig. 58. — Hsemogregarina rara Laveran & Mesnil. A, elongated ; 

 B, curved form ; C, form leaving the corpuscle ; D, E, free 

 in the plasma. (After Laveran and Mesnil.) 



transparent, and motile, and possesses a very elongate and 

 clear nucleus. In the stained preparation (with Leishman's 

 stain) the cytoplasm is of a light blue colour and is finely 

 granular, with large chromatoid bodies. The nucleus is 

 elongate, cyhndrical, nearly always swollen at the ends, 

 and is stained deep violet. It occupies about two-thirds of 

 the length of the body. Multiplication appears to be by binary 

 fission. Other stages of development have not as yet been 

 discovered. 



Dimensions. — Average length 15 ju by 2-3 /x in width. 



Habitat. — Blood of the tortoise, Ghinemys reevesii (Gray) : 

 Ceylon. 



