SPARGANUM PROLIFERUM 



3*9 



and indurated or adherent, giving a somewhat elephantoid appearance. 

 The subcutaneous tissue is thick and filled with slimy fluid or in 

 other parts sclerosed. 



The Worm. The chief peculiarity is its 

 irregular shape and its reproduction in the 

 larval stage by forming supernumerary heads, 

 which are supposed to wander about the 

 body. 



The simplest forms are thread-like bodies, 

 flat or round, 3 mm. long and 0*3 mm. in 

 diameter, but they may be 12 mm. long by 

 2*5 mm. broad. The narrow end is the head, 

 which in life invaginates and evaginates, but 

 there is no indication of any suckers, except 

 an inconstant terminal depression. In addi- 

 tion to these simple forms the most compli- 

 cated "and irregular forms occur, due to the FlG - 2I 5- Sparganum proti- 



c V r ? i /, i , f er : 1* ft with buds, right ex- 



formation of buds (heads) at various parts, tended, x 4 . (After ijima ) 



FIG. 216. Sparganum ptoliferum. x 10. (After Stiles.) 



The detachment and growth of a head account for the presence of 

 more than one worm in a cyst. The irregularity in form is also 



