116 ENTOZOA FOUND IN MAN. 



observed once, or twice at the most ; 3. Intestinal or 

 hydatid worms which had wandered from their usual 

 habitat ; and 4. Vermiform bodies which were not, 

 perhaps, hving animals, but were fibrinous concretions 

 formed in the urinary passages, or insects, or the larvae 

 of insects wliich had accidentally fallen into the urine. 

 The strongylus gigas, which has been frequently 

 observed in the dog, horse, ox, and some other ani- 

 mals, usually inhabits the kidney both in them and 

 in man ; it is probable that it at first occupies the 

 calyces or the pelvis, and it is seldom found in the 

 ureter, or in the bladder ; only one kidney is com- 

 monly affected. 



It rarely happens that there are more than two 

 strongyli in the same person, and generally only one 

 is met -^vith. 



The existence of a strongylus in the kidney gives 

 rise to serious frmctional derangements ; the sub- 

 stance of the organ is gradually destroyed, and the 

 vessels which, for a variable period may resist the 

 destructive process, are subject to frequent hoemorr- 

 hage. The worm is usually involved in a sangoinolent 

 mass, and a large tumour is formed by the renal 

 capsule, within which the sanguinolent, or sometimes 

 purulent, fluid and the strongylus are contained ; 

 when the fluid consists chiefly of pus, the entozooii 

 loses its ordinary red appearance, and assumes a 

 whitish colour. The capsule of the kidney becomes 

 misshapen and thickened, besides undergoing further 

 changes which are not yet imderstood. 



The kidney, which is situated upon the healthy 

 side of the body, acquires a bulk which is much 

 greater than the normal size ; this alteration being 



