THE MICROSCOPE. 125 



little worm I can only say that it involves an almost unparalleled 

 exception to the law generally regarded as determining animal life, 

 and ought not to be accepted but upon the most positive proof. 

 The law governing parasitic existence in living tissue usually involves 

 the speedy death of the parasite after the pabulum upon which it 

 feeds has passed from under the domain of vital force; hence, unless 

 this tiny worm constitutes an exception to this law, its life must be 

 short after the organic structure upon which it feeds has ceased to 

 live." 



Consul Wilson very pertinently adds that "if salt really kills tri- 

 chinae, and of it I have scarcely a doubt, it is evidently an injustice 

 on the part of foreign governments to lay an embargo on our pork 

 product, which, of all others, in order to secure it against decompo- 

 sition on a long voyage to foreign markets, is better salted than that 

 of any other country." — Scientific American. 



The Structure of the Small Intestine. — A histological 

 discovery, which at first sight appears sufficiently remarkable, has 

 just been made in the small intestine by Professor von Thanhoffer. 

 It has been found that structures almost exactly similar to the taste, 

 organs of the tongue are disposed amongst the villi of the alimen- 

 tary canal; but what function can possibly be possessed by "taste 

 organs" in such a situation is, of course, perfectly obscure (Central- 

 Matt f. d. Med. Wiss., January 20). The discovery of these bodies 

 is entirely a matter of careful preparation and examination, osmic 

 acid and chloride of gold being the most favorable reagents. The 

 appearance of the organ is tnat of a bowl or bud, lying, as a rule, at 

 the base of the villi, where they are mutually connected; but oc- 

 casionally they are found rather higher, or even close to the sum- 

 mit of the villus. Just like the taste-corpuscles, these structures 

 vary considerably in actual size and in the relation of their height 

 to their circumference. Their general appearance is readily de- 

 scribed; they consist of two layers of epithelial cells — the one exter- 

 nal, serving as a covering; the other layer internal, constituting the 

 special organ. The latter are prolonged at their free extremity in 

 the direction of a pore which lies at the apex of the bud, and some 

 of them possess a short hair-like process. The actual connection 

 of these peculiar organs with nerves has not yet been traced. — Med. 

 Times and Gazette. 



