CHAP. VI. INTESTINAL WORMS. 215 



him with grievous pain, and often with death. The 

 scorpions of Guiana, although not nearly so large as 

 those of Africa, inflict venomous and extremely painful 

 wounds, although the termination is not fatal. A negro 

 girl, stung by one of these animals, in a few minutes 

 complained of being excessively cold, though the weather 

 was very hot ; she felt, also, a violent shivering fit, like 

 the paroxysm of an ague, together with a quick, weak, 

 tremulous pulse ; these symptoms were also accompa- 

 nied by yawning, stretching, and frequent gasping for 

 breath.* 



(228.) The injuries caused by intestinal insects, or, 

 more properly, worms, are most grievous. These foes, 

 indeed, more particularly excite our apprehension and 

 disgust, from the impossibility of seeing and extermi- 

 nating them, and of guarding against them. We have 

 dwelt so largely on those outward maladies produced 

 by insects, that we shall spare our readers the full de- 

 tails of those distressing inflictions produced by the 

 numerous worms which inhabit our body. Suffice it 

 to say, that of the Linnsean genus Ttenia, or tape- 

 worm, there are no less than six species which are 

 known to be peculiar to the human subject. All these 

 feed upon our juices, and usually take up their habita- 

 tion at the upper part of the alimentary canal. Some- 

 times they are found in great numbers in the same 

 individual, producing the most distressing symptoms, 

 and very frequently a lingering death. They have the 

 power of reproducing parts which have been broken 

 off, so that they are exterminated with the greatest 

 difficulty. The Tania Solium is, perhaps, the most 

 formidable, for it has been found to reach the length 

 of thirty feet, and, as some authors assert, even sixty 

 feet : it feeds on the chyle and j uices, thereby turning 

 all the nourishment taken by the patient to its own 

 support ; hence it produces frightful emaciation, and 

 ultimate death. It is removed with the greatest diffi- 

 culty, even by the most active medicines ; for, by means 



* Bancroft, vol. i. p. 46. 



p 4 



