In the Stable, Field, and on the Road. 227 



There is one which is called taenia medicanellater ; it is 

 the tapeworm which the human host obtains when it 

 eats underdone beef; it is the most common form of 

 human tapeworm. It is quite a delusion to think that 

 the pork tapeworm is as common as that derived from 

 beef." Professor Cobbold says, " I can speak quite con- 

 fidently on this point, because I have investigated this 

 subject very carefully. The beef tapeworm has four 

 suckers, but no hooks. The one from pork is recognised 

 by its head having a series of hooks in addition to four 

 suckers, taenia solium." The tapeworm is a most 

 remarkable creature ; it consists of a head and a 

 segmented body, which is sometimes twenty feet long 

 or more ; each oi its joints or segments is what Pro- 

 lessor Huxley would term a zooid ; it is a sort of semi- 

 independent whole ; in fact, a tapeworm is not a single 

 creature, but a multitude of creatures, all arranged 

 together in single file. You probably have made 

 acquaintance with those pretty objects which are found 

 on the sea-shore, the zoophyte or polypus, with its 

 numerous heads. Now, the compound polypus is a 

 colony of individuals, branching out like a tree ; but the 

 tapeworm is a colony of polypus ranged together in a 

 single file like a regiment of soldiers, and thus one long 

 creature is produced by a number of little beings ad- 

 hering together. Some 1200 individuals are here joined 

 together so as to form a colony. Professor Cobbold 

 says — " I will explain something specially peculiar and 

 interesting about the tapeworm. I have performed a 

 series of experiments which have resulted in giving us a 

 more perfect knowledge of the entire life, history, and 



