38 



The first of this group, T. solium, has already been 

 described : it will therefore not be necessary for me 

 again to speak of it. 



The Varietas abietina of the Taenia solium, so 

 called from the resemblance which the uterus bears 

 to a pine-tree (abies) is described by Weinland, in his 

 essay on the " Tapeworms of Man." It was obtained 

 from a Chippewa Indian, at the Saut Ste. Marie at 

 Lake Superior, by Professor Louis Agassiz: 



" The specimen consists of a chain of several feet 

 in length, from the mature part of the worm. The 

 head, neck, and whole anterior half, are wanting. 

 The most striking thing in this worm is its extreme 

 narrowness and meagreness, while Tsenia mediocan- 

 ellata, which it resembles in the configuration of its 

 uterus, is very broad and thick, according to Kiichen- 

 meister. All the joints which are preserved are very 

 thin, nearly transparent, and equally narrow ; their 

 transverse diameter being about 4 mil., and the 

 longitudinal about 12 mil. The genital openings 

 are very small, and without external lips : this may 

 be owing to the very mature age of the joints in 

 question. There is no pigment in either vagina or 

 spermatic duct. The uterus is more regular than 

 either in T. solium or T. mediocanellata, yet it more 

 resembles the latter. The middle trunk of the uterus 

 is quite straight ; the branches, about thirty in num- 

 ber, start from the main trunk, either at a right 

 angle, or at an angle of about 45. These branches 

 are always quite parallel, and are generally straight ; 

 but, whenever they are bent, they all make the same 



