324 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



stomachs of the beetle-larvae, and the embryos thus liberated 

 penetrate by means of their boring spines through the intes- 

 tines into the body cavity of the larvae ; here they become 

 more developed, and finally reach the intestines of the pigs 

 when the latter devour the beetle-larvae containing them, and 

 there grow to maturity. Wlien the embryos have arrived 

 in the body cavity of the larvae of Melohntha, they remain 

 for some days unaltered and capable of motion ; they then 

 become rigid, acquire an oval form, and envelope themselves 

 in a finely cellular cyst, which is formed of the connective 

 tissue of the larva. The skin of the embryo, with its circlet 

 of spines at the anterior end, continues at first to be the skin 

 of the growing larva, and it is only at a later period, when 

 the formation of the hooks commences, that it is thrown off, 

 when it forms a second cystic envelope. 



The beetle-larvae infested with the young EcMnorhynchi live 

 on until their metamorphosis into cockchafers. As the thorax 

 of the cockchafer is sometimes eaten by man, we can under- 

 stand that the Echinorhynchus gigas may also get into the 

 intestines of man. It has once been found in that situation 

 by Lambl. Professor Schneider also describes the develop- 

 ment and metamorphosis of the larva of the EchinorJiynchus, 

 with reference to its internal organization. 



It is probable that in this country the eggs of this parasite 

 hatch in the larvae of the May-bugs (^Laekno sterna'), and 

 goldsmith-beetles (^Catalpa lanigera'), which are allied to the 

 cockchafer of Europe and have similar habits. These larvae 

 are large, plump, whitish or yellowish grubs, usually darker 

 posteriorly, and furnished with three pairs of legs. They are 

 always abundant in manure heaps and in the soils of yards 

 and gardens, but are also found in fields and pastures, so that 

 there are abundant opportunities for them to get at the eggs 

 of the Echinorhynchus, dropped by the pigs, and for them to 

 be devoured in their turn by the pigs. 



