132 RESEARCHES IN HELMINTHOLOGY AND PARASITOLOGY. 



[October, 1873. No. 390. See Bibliography.] 



Ofi Distoma Hepatiaim. — Prof. Leidy stated that he had received a 

 letter from Prof. Gross, inclosing one from Dr. J. G. Kerr, of Can- 

 ton, China, asking information in regard to a worm accompanying 

 the letter. Dr. Kerr observes that the worm was vomited by a Chi- 

 nese boy, aged fifteen years, and was brought to him in an hour 

 after its expulsion, when it was still alive. It had the appearance of 

 a leech, was red in color, about an inch and a half long and three- 

 fourths of an inch where widest. Dr. Kerr also states that a girl, of 

 four years, of English parents, living in Canton, passed from the 

 bowels at one time nine of these worms. With these exceptions, 

 Dr. Kerr had not met with any one who had ever seen or heard of 

 anything of the kind. 



Prof. Leidy exhibited the specimen and expressed the opinion that 

 the worm was a Liver-fluke, Distoma hcpaticum, a rare parasite in the 

 human subject, though common enough in cattle, especially sheep, in 

 which it caused the disease called " rot." The worm exhibits some 

 differences from D. hepatic idii as usually described, but perhaps not 

 sufficient to characterize it as a distinct species. The specimen is 

 preserved in strong alcohol, which no doubt has much contracted and 

 reduced it in size, but it is yet rather larger than the size assigned to 

 D. hepaticum. It is perfectly smooth throughout, and exhibits no 

 trace of roughness to the integument. It is ovate-lanceolate in form, 

 and gradually widens from the anterior to the posterior rounded 

 extremity. The ventral acetabulum is twice the size of the mouth, 

 and is situated about its own diameter behind it. The genital orifice 

 with the ex.serted spiral penis is placed just in advance of the ventral 

 acetabulum. The measurements of the worm in its present condition 

 are as follows : Length 17 lines, width at the posterior third 7 lines, 

 thickness near center i line, diameter of mouth 2-5ths of a line, di- 

 ameter of acetabulum 4-5tlis of a line. 



Prof. Leidy further remarked that Dr. Keyser, of this city, the 

 evening previously had brought to him for examination a worm, 

 which was stated to have been removed from the cavity of the nose 

 of a patient. He recognized the worm as a rat-tail lava (Larva?) 

 apparently of the genus Eristalis, and inquired of those members 

 interested in entomology, if they had ever known this insect to be 

 found as a parasite in the human body. Both Drs. Le Conte and 

 Horn said that they had never heard of this genus being parasitic. 



