Parasites: A Treatise on the Entozoa of Man and Animals: Including Some Account of the EctozoaCobbold, T. Spencer (Thomas Spencer)
Science
Parasites: A Treatise on the Entozoa of Man and Animals: Including Some Account of the Ectozoa
Cobbold, T. Spencer (Thomas Spencer)
Helminths; Parasites
The source and development of this parasite are points of considerable
interest. The eggs are of comparatively large size, and after expulsion
and immersion in water they give passage to beautifully ciliated
embryos, which latter produce larvæ furnished with a boring apparatus.
These larvæ resemble the six-hooked embryos of other tapeworms. In what
animals the larvæ subsequently develop themselves is not ascertained
with certainty, but it is probable that persons become infested by
eating imperfectly cooked fresh-water fish. Leuckart has suggested that
the intermediary bearers are species of the salmon and trout family. Dr
Knoch, of Petersburg, thought that there was no need of the intermediate
host. He believed that he had succeeded in rearing young broad tapeworms
in the intestines of dogs. It was Leuckart who first explained the
source of Knoch’s errors of interpretation. Although Knoch administered
eggs of _Bothriocephalus latus_ to dogs, and afterwards found young
tapeworms of the species in question in the intestines of the dogs,
it did not logically follow that any genetic relation (as between
the egg-contents and the adult worms) had been thereby established.
The circumstance that ripe ova of the Bothriocephalus always contain
six-hooked embryos, must alone imply that an intermediate host is
necessary for the formation of Cysticerci or measles. If the broad
tapeworm could be reared in a direct manner by the administration of
Bothriocephalus eggs, there would be no need for the presence of boring
hooklets in the proscolex. These are necessary for invading the flesh of
some intermediate host.
[Illustration: FIG. 26.--Proscolex, or six-hooked embryo of
_Bothriocephalus_, escaping from its ciliated covering. After Leuckart.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account