Abstract
The diversity of subjects listed in the
table of contents to this thesis under the general
title "Studies in Experimental Malaria" is more
apparent than real. The central problems around
which all the work has revolved and to which answers
have been sought have been: -
What happens to the malarial sporozoite
in the host? and How does the host react to malarial
infection? It was but natural that subsidiary
questions should arise during the course of such
investigations.
The studies on the fate of the malarial
sporozoite in the host formed a part of the work of
the Mammalian Malaria Enquiry, which was located at
Kasauli. This enquiry was formed in 1945 and was
sponsored by the Government of India and the Royal
Society. Its object was to attempt to determine
whether or not exo- erythrocytic schizogony forms a
part of the life cycle of the parasite in mammalian
malaria. The scientific members of the enquiry were
Lt.Col.H.W.Mulligan, I.M.S., Dr.O.C.Lloyd and myself.
The infection studied was P.cynomolgi in M.mulatta.
My responsibilities as part of the team of workers
were the mosquito transmission of the infection to
monkeys, and the experiments on the infectivity of
the blood and tissues at different stages of the
incubation period following sporozoite inoculation.
In addition I was able to make observations on the
course of the infection in the host.
The studies on the reaction of the host
to malarial infection were conducted at Coonoor
before the war. The fact that the Nutrition Research
Laboratories of the Indian Research Fund Association
were located in the same building afforded an unique
opportunity to investigate the effect of diet on the
course of malarial infection. In this research I
collaborated with Capt.R.Passmore, I.M.S.
The availability and cheapness of the
monkey in India made the researches reported in this
thesis possible. About 600 monkeys passed through
my hands. We in India realised how fortunate we
were in being able to study mammalian malaria under
experimental conditions, unhampered by expense. The
need for a malarial infection in a common laboratory
mammal stimulated our interest in the infection which
occurs naturally in the Malabar squirrel. The last
essay of this thesis describes attempts to adapt
P.ratufae to a common laboratory mammal.
For the sake of convenience in presentation
this thesis has been arranged as a series of sections
or chapters. In the opening section I have grouped
together under the heading "Materials and Methods" all
the technical procedures which were used throughout
the work. The advantages in so doing are an avoidance of repetition and an aid to the presentation of
the observations, results and conclusions in a series
of straightforward essays, uninterrupted by technical
details.
I have thought fit to record the earlier
work as it was seen at the time it was done, and have
made no attempt ta compare it with work done
subsequently in the same field:
