TKICDINOSIS. 817 



the female acquiring a length of -i inch, the male i\. The 

 males are filled with sperm -corpuscles, and the females densely 

 stocked with ova, which are hatched within the uterus, from 

 whence the living embryos escape into the intestinal canal of 

 the host, and at once commence active migration. They first 

 attach themselves to the intestinal mucous membrane, eat 

 through the intestinal walls, and find their way to the small 

 vessels and lymphatics of the bowels, from which they are con- 

 veyed by the blood stream to all parts of the body. They 

 have been found during this period in almost every part of the 

 organism ; in the intestinal walls ; in the abdominal cavity, in the 

 mesentery and mesenteric glands, in the connective tissue, and, 

 in an as yet unencapsuled condition, in the muscular tissue itself. 



Tlie immature trichinae taken into the stomach become mature 

 on the second day ; on the sixth and following days, up to the 

 end of the second or even third week, the embryos are born, 

 and commence operations, and probably reach their destination 

 in a week or two, and by the end of a month or a little more 

 have come to the conclusion of their labours. Although the 

 trichinae fix their abode in the striped muscular tissue, they are 

 rarely if ever found in that of the heart, but are often specially 

 abundant in the muscles of the larynx. 



The experiments of Dr. Bellfield and Mr. Atwood support the 

 conclusions of previous observers, that the manifestations of 

 disease in animals experimentally infected vary according to 

 the number of trichinae introduced ; if these have been few in 

 number, no ill consequences have resulted, but when more 

 numerous, the disease has been of an aggravated or even fatal 

 character. 



Symptoms. — The symptoms of trichinosis in man, as con- 

 cisely described in Tanner's Practice of Medicine, are as follows : — 

 " The symptoms of trichiniasis vary in degree, being mild or severe 

 according as only a few or many of the worms have been 

 swallowed, as well as in proportion to the number of the progeny 

 and the extent of their- migrations. Thus, Dr. Althaus remarks 

 that in the epidemic of Burg, near Magdeburg, a woman who 

 had eaten a quantity of raw pork with bread, fell ill and died ; 

 her child, who had sucked a spoon used by the mother, suffered 

 slightly and recovered. — According to the accounts given by 

 most authors, the earliest symptoms are loss of appetite and 



3g 



