Recently the incidental parasites of man have also been called “PSEUDO-PARASITES” or “PSEUDO-HELMINTHES.” Formerly, however, these terms were applied not only to living organisms that do not and cannot live parasitically, and that only exceptionally and incidentally get into man, but also to any foreign bodies, portions of animals and plants, or even pathological formations that left the human system through the natural channels, and the true nature of which was misunderstood. Frequently these bodies were described as living or dead parasites and labelled with scientific names, as if they were true parasites. A study of these errors, which formerly occurred very frequently, would be as interesting as it would be instructive. It is better not to use the expression pseudo-parasites for incidental parasites, but to keep to the original meaning, for it is not at all certain that pseudo-parasites are not described, even nowadays. _The Influence of Parasites on the Host._--In a great many cases, we are not in a position to state anything regarding any marked influence exercised by the parasite on the organism, and on the conditions of life, of the host. Most animals and many persons exhibit few signs of such influence, an exception being infestation with helminthes and certain other parasites which produce eosinophilia in the blood. As a general rule, the parasite, which is always smaller and weaker than its host, does not attempt to endanger the life of the latter, as simultaneously its own existence would be threatened. The parasite, of course, robs its host, but usually in a scanty and sparing manner, and the injuries it inflicts can hardly be taken into account. There are, however, numerous cases[4] in which the situation of the parasites or the nature of their food, added to their number and movements, may cause more or less injury, and even threaten the life of the host. It stands to reason that a _Cysticercus cellulosæ_ situated in the skin is of but slight importance, whereas one that has penetrated the eye or the brain must give rise to serious disorders. A cuticular or intestinal parasite is, as a rule, less harmful than a blood parasite. A helminth, such as an _Ascaris lumbricoides_ or a tapeworm, that feeds on the residues of foodstuffs within the intestine, will hardly affect its host by depriving it of this material. The case is different when the parasites are very numerous, especially when the heavily infested host happens to be a young individual needing all it ingests for its own requirements, and therefore unable to sustain the drain of numerous intruders in the intestine. Disturbances also set in more rapidly when the intestinal helminthes are blood-suckers, the injury to the host resulting from the kind of food taken by the parasite.