29 



was wrong, as has been shown by Dr. Farre and other observers 

 since. He then proceeds to put it in its proper position in 

 the animal kingdom. He says that the simple structure ap- 

 proximates it to the lower organised gi-oups of Farenchymatous 

 worms, and further that the organic form in the natural system 

 to which the animal under consideration is most nearly allied, 

 is that exhibited by the lower organised Vihriones of Miiller. 

 He then goes on to establish the genus Trichina, and calls this 

 the Trichina Spiralis. 



The name is scarcely a happy one. I imagine he wishes to 

 describe a hair-like animal, coiled in a spiral form, Trichinus, 

 from the Greek Tpixn'o" from 0/n^ a hair seems to signify made of 

 hair rather than hair-like.* 



Speaking of symptoms — He says "it may be questioned how 

 far they can be considered as a primary cause of debility, since an 

 enfeebled state of the vital powers is the probable condition under 

 which they arfe developed." It is one of the triumphs of modern 

 times to have upset this theory. Cobbold, speaking on this matter, 

 says, " Most people, not excluding even votaries of the healing art 

 following tradition, regard the internal parasites or Entozoa, as 

 creatures either directly resulting from certain diseased conditions 

 of the hosts, or as organisms which would not have existed if their 

 bearers were healthy. Nothing can be more absurd. Such a con- 

 clusion is at variance with all the logical deductions of known facts, 

 &c." Owen goes on to say, that it is not improbable that in all 

 cases the patient himself will be unconscious of the presence of 

 the microscopic parasites which are enjoying their vitality at his 

 expense. At the end of 1835, Dr. Farre published a paper, in 

 which he describes an alimentaiy canal running from one end of 

 the animal to the other, with some reservation, an orifice at the 

 small end and also an ovaiy, or at any rate a genital outlet. On 

 this, Owen writes that if Dr. Farre's observations are confirmed 

 which he doubts, the Trichina would rank higher in the scale than 

 he had placed it, and would form a genius of Cielehnintha. These 

 observations have been confirmed, and the position of the worm 

 has never since been disturbed. 



It is now estabhshed that the muscles of man are liable to be 



* The usual pronunciation is Trichina, and it is so given by 'Webster, but 

 as the word is derived from rflyjwi or Trichinus, in both of which the second 

 syllable is short, I think Trieliina is better. 



