DISTOMA HEPATICUM. 435 



Owen, relates to a case in which, although the evidence is not 

 complete, the occurrence of Distoma hepaticum in the tissues is 

 rendered probable : 



Liverpool, Clarence Street, October 8lh, 1856. 



Dear Sir, I beg to forward you a specimen of an Entozoon one of 

 six or seven which escaped from an abscess of the scalp in a child. The 

 particulars of the case are the following : 



William Bridge, set. 25 months, of pale complexion, rather emaciated, 

 with some tumidity of the belly otherwise healthy, appetite good. 

 About two months ago his mother observed a swelling on the upper part 

 of the occiput, the size of half-a-crown, which increased in six or eight 

 days to about the circumference of an orange, when it spontaneously dis- 

 charged a considerable quantity of pus. The abscess continued partially 

 to refill and discharge itself at intervals for about three weeks, when, on 

 the removal of the poultice and clearing away the pus, the mother ob- 

 served on the napkin used for that purpose, several of the animals in 

 question, but exhibiting no signs of life or movement. 



I saw the child the following day for the first time, when the mother 

 showed me the entozoa. I examined the cavity of the abscess, but could 

 discover no more of them. The part is now healing under the continued 

 use of the poultice. 



The child was never known to pass worms, which I have since looked 

 for under the use of anthelmintic remedies. It was weaned when eighteen 

 months of age ; its food since then has been chiefly farinaceous, of which 

 potatoes have formed a considerable portion. 



I have not at present been able to find any analogous case in the several 

 medical works which I have consulted. As relates to the classification of 

 the animal, you would regard it as a species of the order Trematoda, as 

 it seems to bear much resemblance to the fluke entozoon found in the 

 liver of sheep, &c. 



Any information in connection with the above, and especially as relates 

 to the generation of entozoa in so singular a situation, which you may 

 consider the case worthy of, will be particularly esteemed. 



I am, yours truly and respectfully, 

 J. PEKST HAEEIS. 



Professor Owen, F.R.S., 

 &c. &c. 



British Museum, October 10th, 1856. 



Dear Sir, The entozoon which you have forwarded to me is a fine 

 specimen of the Distoma hepaticum, a species common in the gall-bladder 

 and ducts of sheep, extremely rare in man, and then only so far as I 

 know or can find recorded by direct observation of naturalists and ana- 

 tomists, in the biliary or intestinal tract. 



The value of the case is undoubtedly affected by your not being so for- 

 tunate as to witness the worm in, or its escape from, the abscess. 



I would not impugn the good faith of the mother, but rather inquire 

 into and weigh the possibilities or probabilities of any dead fluke-worms 

 having got accidentally into the material of the poultice or on the rag or 

 cloth used for the purpose. 



