244 



CERCOMONAS IXTESTINALIS. 



who observed these parasites in myriads in the jelly-like intestinal 

 mucus of children as early as 1859, but published then only a very 

 insufficient description of them, 1 mentions afterwards, in the paper 

 cited, a case in which Cercomonas intestinalis (or at least a form which 

 cannot by our present means be distinguished from C. hominis) was 

 found even in the liver. 



The person infested was a patient suffering from Eckinococcus, who 

 died in consequence of the treatment (with caustic paste). On a 

 post mortem examination twelve hours after death a large Echinococcus 

 (32 cm. long, 18 to 20 cm. broad) was disclosed in a cyst, apparently 

 formed from a widened and degenerated bile-duct, and containing a 



FIG. 122. Cercomonas from the liver. (After Lambl.) 



slimy liquid, in which were, besides Vibriwies of diverse sizes, a 

 countless number of living specimens of Cercomonas. This fluid, 

 together with the contents of the bladder-worm, yielded sediment of 

 nearly 500 c.c., in which the animals occurred in such abundance that 

 a large number were to be found in every drop. They generally 

 showed an extremely quick, but very variable motion, and sometimes 

 hung grouped together in dozens around a common centre. 



The size varied exceedingly between the limits of 0'005 and 0'014 

 mm. The form also varied according to the contraction of the body, 

 but was generally elliptical or spindle-shaped, or sometimes rather 

 pear-shaped or cylindrical. Flagellum and terminal filament could be 

 distinctly demonstrated, although the former was extremely fine, and 

 although instances occurred in which both appeared to be wanting. 

 Lambl, who, it may be remarked, cites his colleagues at Warsaw as wit- 



1 Prager Vierteljahrsschr. f. prakt. Jfeilk., Bd. lxi. f p. 51, 1859 ; Aus dem Franz - 

 Joseph-Kinderspitale in Prag., Bd. i., p. 360. 



