148 THE ANIMAL PARASITES OF MAN 



As before mentioned, Eimeria stiedce is considered to be the 

 organism found in a few cases in man, possibly acquired by eating 

 the insufficiently cooked livers of diseased rabbits. These cases may 

 now be described. 



(a) Human Hepatic Coccidiosis. 



(1) Gubler's Case. A stone-breaker, aged 45, was admitted to a Paris hospital 

 suffering from digestive disturbances and severe anaemia. On examination the liver 

 was found to be enlarged and presented a prominent swelling, which was regarded as 

 being due to Echinococcus. At the autopsy of the man, who succumbed to intercurrent 

 peritonitis, twenty cysts were found averaging 2 to 3 cm. in diameter, and one 

 measuring 12 to 15 cm. The caseous contents consisted of detritus, pus corpuscles, 

 and oval-shelled formations, which were considered to be Distoma eggs, but which, 

 in accordance with Leuckart's conjecture, proved to be Coccidia. 1 



(2) Dressler's Case (Prague). Relates to three cysts, varying from the size of 

 a hemp-seed to that of a pea, and containing Coccidia, found in a man's liver. 2 



(3) Battler's Case (Vienna). Coccidia were in this case observed in the dilated 

 biliary duct of a human liver. 3 



(4) Perls' Case (Giessen). Perls discovered Coccidia in an old preparation of 

 Sb'mmering's agglomerations. 4 



(5) Silcock's Case (London). 5 The patient, aged 50, who had fallen ill with 

 serious symptoms, exhibited fever, enlarged liver and spleen, and had a dry, coated 

 tongue. At the autopsy numerous caseous centres, mostly immediately beneath the 

 surface, were found, while the contiguous parts of the liver were inflamed. Micro- 

 scopical examination demonstrated numerous Coccidia in the hepatic cells as well 

 as in the epithelium of the biliary ducts. A deposit of Coccidia was likewise found 

 in the spleen, which the parasites had probably reached by means of the blood- 

 stream. 



(b) Human Intestinal Coccidiosis. 



In two cadavers at the Pathological Institute in Berlin, Eimer" found the 

 epithelium of the intestine permeated by Coccidia. Railliet and Lucet's case may 

 be traced back to intestinal Coccidia, which were found in the faeces of a woman 

 and her child, who had both suffered for some time from chronic diarrhoea. 8 In 

 other cases (Grassi, Rivolta), where only the existence of Coccidia in the faeces was 

 known, it is doubtful whether the parasites originated in the intestine or in the liver. 



1 Gubler, A., " Tumeurs du foie determ. par des oeufs d'helm . , . ." Mem. Soc. 

 Biol., Paris, 1858, v, 2 ; and Gaz. med. de Paris, 1858, p. 657 ; Leuckart, R., Die menschl. 

 Paras., 1863, 1st edition, i, pp. 49, 740. 



2 Leuckart, R., Die menschl. Paras., 1863, 1st edition, i, p. 740.- 



3 Leuckatt, R., Die Paras, d. mensch., 1879, 2nd edition, p. 281. 



4 Leuckart, R., ibid., p. 282. 



5 Silcock, "A Case of Parasit. by Psorospermia," Trans. Path. Soc., London, 1890, xli, 

 p. 320. 



6 Pianese has confirmed the fact that Coccidia actually occur in the blood of the hepatic 

 veins of infected rabbits. 



' Die ei- u. kugelf. Psorosp. d. Wirbelt., 1870, p. 1 6. 



8 Railliet and Lucet, " Obs. s. quelq. Cocc. intest.," C. R. Soc. Biol., Pari?, 1890, p. 660 ; 

 Railliet, Trait. Zool. med. et agric., 2e ed., 1895, P- J 4 O - 



