PENTASTOMA T/ENIOIDES OF THE SHEEP. 371 



ON PENTASTOMA T^NIOIDES OF THE SHEEP. 



Leuckart* has recently shown by experiment that Pentas- 

 tomum denticulatum, which is found not unfrequently in the 

 bodies of rabbits, is the partially developed Pentastoma tseni- 

 iodes which occurs frequently in the nasal cavities of the head 

 or sinuses of the dog. Moreover. Leuckart has shown, that 

 when this parasite has attained maturity in the dog's head, 

 ripe eggs are thrown off to ensure the multiplication of the 

 species. These eggs are given off and discharged with the 

 mucus in the act of sneezing, &c., and they are then taken 

 up by animals, in whose bodies the embryos undergo a cer- 

 tain stage of development. 



The pentastomum had not been seen in its undeveloped 

 state as scolex in all our domestic animals. It had been 

 found in the abdominal cavity of goats and cats. In the first, 

 the parasite was the pentastomum denticulatum, and in the 

 second, pentastomum fera. Colin, however, has recently 

 found it in the sheep and dromedary. ) 



In the mesenteric glands of the last-named animals, there 

 exists an asexual linguatula, which acquires a generative ap- 

 paratus on changing its habitation. These parasites penetrate 

 the gland, and are lodged in a capsule which contains several 

 individuals. As the containing capsule enlarges, disease of the 

 gland tissue occurs. The parasite of the mesenteric glands 

 ts born of the eggs of the parasite of the dog, which are 

 gathered up by the sheep with their food. The worm only 

 remains a definite time in its first abode, as it pierces the 

 glands and leaves a cavity which soon gets filled up. 



* Ban und Entwickelung der Pentastomen. Von R LEUCKART. 

 Leipzig and Heidelberg. 1860. 



t See Edinburgh Veterinary Review, vol. ill. p. 682. 



