BABESIA. 313 



Nuttall and Strickland (1910) have described the growth 

 and division stages in this species. The species produces 

 a disease Hke that caused by B. caballi, but is much more 

 widely distributed. Theiler (1905 a) showed that Ehipi- 

 cephalus evertsi Neumann is the vector in South Africa, and 

 according to Carpano (1913 6), Ehipicephalus bursa Canestrini 

 & Fanzega is the vector in Italy. 



Young animals are not so seriously affected as older ones. 

 Immunity is acquired. The blood remains infective for many 

 years after a clinical recovery. 



Habitat. — Blood of the horse, Equus caballus Linn. : Punjab ; 

 United Provinces, Muktesar ; Rajputana ; Madras. 



258. Babesia felis Davis. (Fig. 153.) 



"fPyroplasma sp., Lingard & Jennings, 1904, p. 161. 

 Babesia felis, Davis, 1929, pp. 304, 523-34. 

 ■f Babesia felis, Mangrulkar, 1937 a, p. 15 ; 1937 b, pp. 243-6, pi. xvi. 



Small, rounded, non-pigmented, intra-corpuscular parasite 

 multiplying by division into four in a cross-like arrangement. 



Fig. 153. — Babesia felis Davis. Various forms seen in Leishman- 

 stained films. Light blue cytoplasm is indicated by- 

 stippling and the dark red chromatin by black. Outlines 

 of the corpuscles are represented schematically. (After 

 Davis.) 



Schizonts do not occur in the internal organs. Trypan blue 

 not effective. 



Dimensions. — 1-2-25/x in diameter, the majority being 

 about 1-25/x.. 



Remarks. — Lingard and Jennings (1904) recorded piro- 

 plasmosis in wild and tame cats, but did not describe the 

 form found. Davis (1929) described Babesia felis from 

 the Sudanese wild cat, Felis ocreata, and found that the 

 parasite is readily transmissible to the domestic cat by means 

 of blood inoculation, and that the progress of infection in 

 inoculated cats follows a constant but benign course. Splenec- 

 tomy prior to or after inoculation results in an intense 

 infection characterized by anaemia and hsemoglobinuria. 

 Mangrulkar (1937) has recently found the form in Indian cats, 

 but has not come across any division into four or cross-forms. 



Habitat. — Blood of cat, Felis domesticus Linn. : United 

 Provinces, Bareilly, Muktesar. 



