252 Transactions of the 



These tenia are caused in us " by our swallowing the ova containing 

 embryos of Tsenia echinoeoccus after they have made their escape 

 from the alimentary canal of the dog," and in their larval condition 

 " this species is probably more injurious to the human race than all 

 the species of entozoa put together, or to say the least, it is more 

 frequently the immediate cause of death than any other internal 

 parasite." Eeferring to measled pork, he points out the care the 

 butcher should take in using the same knife which, after cutting 

 measled pork, is " often indiscriminately used to cut up any other 

 meat at hand, and not unfrequently the vesicles are transferred 

 from meat to meat, and from meat to mouth." 



Dr. Thudicum, in his able Report on the principal parasitic 

 diseases of the quadrupeds used for food, speaking of the echino- 

 eoccus and its frequency in sheep, in one of his investigations, 

 several years before his report to the Medical Officer of the Privy 

 Council, published 1864, says, " Amongst the worst classes of sheep 

 sold in Camden Town, I then sometimes could not find a single 

 animal that was entirely free from echinococci." Staff-Surgeon Dr. 

 P. Davidson, late of Victoria Hospital, Netley, in his ' Eemarks on 

 the Cestoid, or Tape-like Worms,' speaking of the geographical 

 distribution of Tsenia echinoeoccus, says, " In Iceland the statistics 

 of hydatid disease are appalling. According to Schleisner, Eschricht, 

 and Gruerault, it is endemic to such an extent that a sixth part of 

 the whole population are afflicted by it." Again, Dr. Thudicum, 

 speaking of the hookless tapeworm : " from the 5-cupped bladder- 

 worm which lives in the calf and heifer, and not in the pig, is the 

 exclusive taenia of Austria Proper (Archduchy)." " Every case of 

 tapeworm of this kind was therefore preceded by the existence in a 

 piece of veal or beef of the hookless 5-cupped bladder-worm, which 

 had escaped cooking, and, being swallowed, was set free in the 

 intestine to grow and effect propagation." 



These passages, quoted from such authorities, may well invite 

 the attention of those who may be purposing a visit to the Inter- 

 national Exhibition in Vienna this year, by pointing to the risks of 

 partaking of these meats in an imperfectly cooked condition. To 

 those interested in these matters — and it is really a question that 

 widens with man's dispersion — let me recommend the perusal of 

 Dr. Cobbold's work on Entozoa, and Dr. Thudicum's Report, found 

 in the ' Seventh Report of the Medical Officer of the Privy Council, 

 1864,' published by Eyre and Spottiswoode, London, 1865. 



The disposal of the sewage of large or small communities, the 

 patent earth-closet system, the food of swine and dogs, the contami- 

 nation of streams and water-sujyplies by parasitic ova, with many 

 other points, all relating to the mitigation of a life-long suffering 

 and premature agonizing death, hence to the well-being of man, to 

 say nothing of the state of the animals from which he derives so 



