what is known as the "flagellated body"[1] (Fig. 3). Analogous bodies are found in all forms of malaria, both in those special to man and in the corresponding infections of other vertebrata. It is a strange-looking, octopus-like creature with long, actively-moving arms; and, though composed of the same materials—namely, colourless protoplasm and dark hæmozoin granules—it differs in many respects from the ordinary forms of the parasite, more especially in the fact that it is not intracorpuscular, but free
Fig. 3.—Malaria parasite: flagellated body, stained.
in the liquor sanguinis. The long, whip-like arms, numbering from one to six, or even more, are usually designated flagella or, more correctly, micro gametes. These are exceedingly delicate and pliant filaments, difficult to see not only on account of their delicacy but also on account of the rapidity of their movements. Sometimes bulbous at the free extremity,
- ↑ The expressions "flagellated body" and "flagellum," applied to this phase of the malaria parasite, though graphic enough, are somewhat misleading. The flagella of the malaria parasite are in no sense analogous to the flagella of the flagellata; they really function as spermatozoa. The proper zoological terms for this and the other phases of the malaria parasites are given at p. 28.
