PARTHENOGENESIS OF FEMALE CRESCENT BODY. 



185 



Figs. 1 and 2. 



(a) Size. The segmenting form fills al- 

 most the whole normal-sized red 

 blood cell. 



( I ) Shape. Fig. 1 : Elongated oval- 

 shaped, with a slightly indented 

 margin on the right and termi- 

 nating in an obtuse and slightly 

 bent point. 



Fig. 2: Oval with its center 

 lying slightly outside the center 

 of the blood cell. 



(c) Chromosomes. Large, coarse, pur- 

 ple-brown, peculiarly imbedded 

 and arranged in a red-violet basic 

 substance which is band-like in 

 form and which extends in a 

 curve parallel to the margin of 

 the parasite. 



id) Protoplasm. Stained light blue- 

 violet and identical with that of 

 the crescent bodies. 



(e) Pigment. Coarse, yellow -brown, 

 scattered, excentrically situated, 

 quite similar to the pigment of 

 the crescent bodies. 



8 chizo genesis of the tropical parasite. 



Segmenting forms reach a maximum of 

 two-thirds of the size of the cell. 



Mostly circular and generally situated 

 in or near the center of the red blood 

 cell. 



Small, fine, purple, separated from one 

 another, and distributed in a circular 

 manner around the pigment which lies 

 in the center. 



Light azure-blue, including the small 

 chromosomes more or less. 



Fine, dark -brown or' black, mostly con- 

 centrated in one clump, generally 

 situated in the center and surrounded 

 by the merozoites. 



GENERAL CONCLUSIONS. 



In view of the differences noted above, which have been investigated 

 also by Nocht, Von Prowazek, Mayer, Eodenwaldt, and Gonder, I 

 believe I can exclude the schizogenesis of the tropical parasite in the 

 case in question, so that nothing remains but to admit that here we 

 are dealing with parthenogenetic forms of the tropical macrogamete. 

 As confirmatory evidence, I desire to emphasize the following facts : 



1. The size and shape of the segmenting parasites, in which may be 

 observed very distinctly in the upper right-hand corner of fig. 1, the 

 obtuse, slightly bent point, the crescent body, which point may be seen 

 much better in fig. 3, where the two poles can not be mistaken. 



2. The light, blue-violet staining reaction of the protoplasm of the 

 parasite, identical with that of the crescent bodies in the same blood 

 preparation and entirely different from the light azure-blue coloring 

 of the quartan and tertian parasites, which have been treated in the same 

 way. 



