154 



THE AMERICAN MONTHLY 



|Juiic, 



transversal septa cliaracteristic of tlie Oscillaria*, to whicli. I sup- 

 pose, tliis parasite is claimed to heloiijj. Therefore, I am inclined 

 to claim for Spirilina a torm near to Leptotlirix, or to cells helong- 

 in«; to the mvceliiim of a liyphomvcetous fun«^iis. 'IMiere is no 

 doubt that these spiral, lony;, curved cells are of vejj;etal)le origin." 



Tricliina' Spiralis. 



By W. N. SHKRMAN, M. 



MKKIBD. CAI. 



A kno\vled»;e of the Trichina* spiralis, and of tiie symptoms it 

 proiluces in the human body, is very nccessarv to the physician, 

 and ]niblic instruction concernintj its character ami habits would 

 enable others to avoid it. 



Instances of their presence in the liuman bodv are not uncom- 

 mon, and thev are often overlooked ; the svm|)toms produced by 

 them being mistaken for enteric fever or rheumatism. As it 

 exists onlv in flesh-eating animals, we need have no fear of its 

 existence in other food than meat, although it has been asserted 

 that an infected carcass might pollute the water of a stream 

 near by and reproduce the disease through drinking the water. 

 This is not vciy probable, however. Spiralis is suggestive 

 of its spiral siiape. which is beautifully illustrated in figure i, 



showing the worm as 

 ita])pears coiled with- 

 in its capsule. Other- 

 wise, this parasite 

 worm is not unlike a 

 common earth-worm, 

 except in its micro- 

 scopic dimensions. 

 While they do not at 

 all times assume so 

 perfect a spiral shape 

 as shown here, their 

 tendency is to that 

 shaj)e ; hence their 

 name '* spiralis." 



In sections of in- 

 fected meat it is fre- 

 quently seen coiled 

 _ _, . , within a protecting 



Fir.. I — Photomicrograph of Trichinae spiralis inangifled 75 1 .t;,. .. i • i 



diameters. From a double-stained section of human flesh. CapSUlC (t Ig. I ),WllICn 



it occupies, in an inert 

 condition, until a favorable opportunity occurs for reproduction 

 and migration. 



In its mature state the trichinae spiralis is an extremely minute 



