258 WORMS. 



impurities of slimy mucus, accumulated in 

 the stomach, and thei^ brought to perfec- 

 tion ; othersassert their formation and con- 

 sequent progress to be carried on in the in- 

 testines ; and many are not without belief 

 that the animalcidce , or eggs, are conveyed 

 into the body with a part of the vegetable 

 world upon which they subsist, and there 

 brought to their state of perfection. 



I shall barely venture to hint at the po^^ 

 sibilify of their undergoing (in shape or ap- 

 pearance) in the different parts of the body, 

 as the stomach, intestines, or rectum, those 

 changes that we well know take place in the 

 silk-xoorm, caterpillar, &c. seeming to con- 

 stitute a different species, thocigh the con- 

 trary is universally proved by even ocular 

 demonstration of the very act of mutation. 

 As enlarging upon the great consistency and 

 probabihty of this circumstance can only 

 extend the field for imagination, without add- 

 ing at all to the utility or elucidation of the 

 subject, that indeterminate point shall re- 

 main undisturbed, Avhile we proceed to the 

 more material investigation of consequences 

 and cure. 



