TAPEWORMS. U 



possible, taking the history of the patient into con- 

 sideration, that you might be able to diagnose such 

 a case successfully. Undoubtedly also your suspicions 

 would be very naturally roused if in any person suf- 

 fering under cerebral disturbance you should have 

 previously obtained evidence of the existence of cysti- 

 cerci in other parts of the body say, for example, 

 in the eye or beneath the skin. As to the possi- 

 bility of a cure being effected in the case of a 

 cerebral cysticercus, I for one (supposing a correct 

 diagnosis had been arrived at) should not entirely 

 despair ; for in this particular relation my experi- 

 mental investigations have taught me an important 

 practical lesson. I have found and demonstrated 

 that the larvse of the beef tapeworm, if left to them- 

 selves, will perish and calcify within a period of 

 about eight months. From actual observation I 

 have ascertained that the same pathological process, 

 tending in all cases to a natural cure, is sooner or 

 later accomplished in other forms of larval tape- 

 worms, whether encountered in the human body 

 or elsewhere. In true hydatids the time requisite 

 for a natural cure is necessarily much longer than 

 obtains in the case of ordinary cysticerci; conse- 

 quently it may be doubted if any cure of this sort 

 has ever followed in the instances where these larger 

 kinds of larvae have gained access to the human brain. 

 Knowing what cures are effected by the veterinarian 

 in cases of "gid," I should not at all despair of 



