664 THE ANIMAL PARASITES OF MAN 



intestine, in the mesenteric glands, in the liver, pancreas, spleen and 

 kidneys, in the mamma, in the heart, in the bones and in the great 

 vessels (Huber 1 ). Cysticercus of the eye deserves special mention; 

 in rare cases the cysticercus has been met with in the subcutaneous 

 cellular tissue of the eyelid, once in the muscle bundles of the 

 musculus orbicularis. Subconjunctival cysts are found chiefly in 

 youthful individuals. Their position is most varied, generally in the 

 neighbourhood of the inner angle of the eye. Dilated vessels pass 

 right over the cysts, which are generally movable, together with the base 

 they rest upon, producing a spherical protrusion. The head of the 

 worm can sometimes be seen shining through as a whitish speck. 

 The only symptoms are those of a slight irritation of the connective 

 tissue and some difficulty in closing the lid ; larger cysts dislocate the 

 globe. The diagnosis has the rapid growth of the cystic tumour to 

 support it ; there is the possibility of its being mistaken for a foreign 

 body (Kaldrovils 2 ). After division of the connective tissue capsule 

 extraction is easily performed. It is most rare for the cysticercus to 

 occur in the orbit. Suppuration of the cyst may have serious con- 

 sequences for the eye. It is only exceptionally that the cysticerci 

 gain access to the anterior chamber of the eye. 



Subretinal cysticerci or those localized in the vitreous are more 

 frequent. Upon examination with the ophthalmoscope there is seen 

 in the vitreous a bluish bladder with a smooth surface. The head is 

 seen as a white patch, and the circle of hooks and the suckers 

 also come into view, also the frequent movements which the head 

 and neck make in the vitreous. Operation generally yields good 

 results ; in rare instances the globe is atrophied and must be 

 enucleated. 



Formerly cysticerci in the brain were met with in fair frequency, 

 but the number of such cases has generally decreased of late years in 

 a remarkable way, in correspondence with the diminution of cysticerci, 

 which is to be attributed to compulsory meat inspection. Whilst, 

 for example, the post-mortem records of the Pathological Institute in 

 Berlin before the year 1875 showed 20 per cent, cysticerci affecting 

 the brain, this number declined later to 16*3 per cent., and of late 

 years has fallen to i per cent. (Orth 3 ). Nevertheless even now 

 cysticercus still plays no inconsiderable part in the etiology of 

 cerebral diseases. For example, in the clinic of de Amicis at Naples, 

 among seven cases of cysticerci of the skin, they were found four 

 times also in the brain (Sipari 4 ). Cysticerci may occur in the dura 

 mater, arachnoid, pia mater, choroid plexus, the surface of the cerebral 



1 Huber, " Bibliographic der klin. Helminthologie," 1891, pt. 2. 



Kaldrovils, Wien, med. Wochenschr., 1902. 



3 Orth, Berl. med. Gts., June 29, 1904. 4 Sipari, " Angelo Trani Neapel," 1900. 



