80 ENTOZOA FOUND IN MAN. 



Chapter VII. 

 THE BOTHEIOCEPHALUS LATUS. 



LiiLE the tsenia solium, tliis worm inhabits the small 

 intestine/ to the lining membrane of which it adheres 

 by means of its head. It appears to be most frequent 

 in adults and in females, but the conditions which 

 attend its development are unknown. 



The bothriocephalus may for a variable period be 

 comparatively inoffensive, or it may soon give rise to 

 marked symptoms, analogous to those produced by 

 the taenia solium. 



In order to complete the pathological account of 

 this entozoon, it is only necessary to point out some 

 slight differences which distinguish it from the 

 tsenia. 



It usually attains to a greater length than the 

 taenia, and sometimes assumes enormous proportions, 

 so that the symptoms which it produces are often 

 more severe than in the case of the latter parasite. 



Its rings are not separately detached, and do 

 not lead a distinct existence, after they have arrived 

 at maturity; or, in other words, the bothriocephalus 

 does not form cucurbitini. 



The bothriocephalus is like the tsenia commonly, 

 though not always, sohtary. Numerous cases have 



* The ts&nia and the bothriocephalus, upon rare occasions, have 

 been known to pass out through a fistulous wound in the intes- 

 tine, but in such cases neither of these worms bas had any 

 influence upon the formation of the opening whence it has 

 emerged ; their heads which are buried in the mucous membrane 

 of the intestine, do not cause any inflammation, or other appreci- 

 able change of the membrane, and cannot produce its perforation. 



