164 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



it depended upon the formation of very small cysticerci. lie made 

 a coranuinication to the Medico-Chirurgical Society in 1833, which 

 was regarded with much favor at the time, and has now become his- 

 toric in P^nglish bibliography, as the first published account we have 

 of the abode of the worm in question. 



Dr. Warmald of the St. Bartholomew School had frequently ob- 

 served the same abnormal and specked condition of certain muscles. 

 The gritty sensation he had perceived and the bhinting of the edge 

 of his scalpel, in dissecting, caused him one day to mention the fact 

 to Prof. Owen. This led to some inquiries concerning the nature of 

 these little calcified bodies in the flesh, and the distinguished anato- 

 mist at once requested a specimen for microscopic examination from 

 the next subject he should find thus infected. It was not long, how- 

 ever, before his wish was gratified ; but ere he had time to investigate 

 the matter, one of the students, now better known as Sir James 

 Paget, the renowned pathologist, dissected some of these calcareous 

 cysts, and with the aid of a microscope, which he borrowed of Dr. 

 Robert Brown, the celebrated botanist, he actually saw this living 

 entozoon first coiled upon itself and in a dormant state. 



This discovery enlisted Dr. Brown's attention, and he accordingly 

 rendered his student friend valuable assistance, bv '' dexterously 

 pulling a worm from the cyst" for examination. Dr. Brown therefore 

 first saw this interesting parasite in a free and larval state, liberated 

 from its prison life. 



Portions of this trichinized muscle having been " distributed far 

 and wide," much interest was awakened in scientific circles concern- 

 ing its natural history. The medical profession therefore very nat- 

 urally turned their attention to Prof. Owen, who of all English 

 naturalists was best prepared to throw a gleam of light on the sub- 

 ject. He found each capsule to contain from one to three small, 

 hair-like worms, invariably coiled up in a conical form ; hence he 

 gave it the very appropriate zoological name the parasite now bears. 

 But, as this examination was made with a low magnifying power, he 

 did not perceive that this little helminth had any internal organiza- 

 tion. Consequently he arranged it among the lowest of the eutozoa, 

 in his new-made class Protelmintha. 



SUBSEQUENT INVESTIGATION. 



Dr. Arthur Farre* by his careful dissections soon distinguished an 

 alimentary canal, which at once elevated the parasite in the classifi- 



*Loudon Gazette, December, 1835. 



