COCCIDIUM CUNICULI 79 



or roundish thick-walled nodules, more or less isolated, and con 7 

 taining a caseous material, are formed ; this material consists of 

 detritus, pus cells, epithelial cells and coccidia in various stages 

 of development, according to the time that has elapsed from the 

 moment of infection. In originally severe infection which increases 

 rapidly in consequence of schizogony, the inflammation of the 

 liver is great and leads to serious illnesses and frequently to 

 death ; in other cases auto-division finally sets in, as schizogony 

 cannot continue indefinitely, though the coccidia nodules persist. 



The transmission of Coccidium cuniculi to man occurs very 

 rarely, at all events the number of cases known are few. The 

 following cases are probably correct : 



(1) Gubler's Case. A stone-breaker, aged 45, was admitted to a Paris 

 hospital suffering from digestive disturbances and severe anaemia. On examin- 

 ation the 'liver was found to be enlarged and presented a prominent 

 swelling, which was regarded as echinococcus. At the autopsy of the 

 man, who succumbed to intercurrent peritonitis, twenty cysts were founq 1 

 averaging 2 3 cm. in diameter, and one measuring 12 15 cm. The 

 caseous contents consisted of detritus, pus corpuscles, and oval-shelled 

 formations, which were considered to be distomum eggs, but which, in 

 accordance with Leuckart's conjecture, proved to be .coccidia (Gubler, A., 

 " Tumeurs du foie determ par des ceufs d'helm ." [Mem. soc. biol., 

 Paris, 1858, v., 2; and Gaz.med.de Paris, 1858, p. 657); Leuckart, R., 

 Die menschl. Paras., 1863, ist edition, i., p.- 49, Anm.J. 



(2) Dressler's Case (Prague). Relates to three cysts, varying from the 

 size of a hemp-seed to that of a pea, and containing coccidia, found in 

 a man's liver (Leuckart, R., Die menschl. Paras., 1863, ist edition, i., 

 p. 740). 



(3) Sattler's Case (Vienna). Coccidia were in this case observed in the 

 dilated biliary duct of a human liver (Leuckart, R., Die thier. paras, d. 

 Mensch., 1879, ist edition, ii., p. 281). 



(4) Perls' Case (Giessen). Perls discovered coccidia in an old preparation 

 of Sommering's agglomerations (Leuckart, R., ibid., p. 282). 



(5) Silcock's Case (London). The patient, aged 50, who had fallen ill 

 with serious symptoms, exhibited fever, enlarged liver and spleen, and had 

 a dry, coated tongue. At the autopsy numerous caseous centres, mostly 

 immediately beneath the surface, were found, while the contiguous parts of 

 the liver were inflamed. The microscopical examination demonstrated 

 numerous coccidia in the hepatic cells as well as in the epithelium of the 

 biliary ducts. A deposit of coccidia was likewise found in the spleen, which 

 the parasites had probably reached by means of the circulation of the 

 blood ' (Silcock, " A Case of Parasit. by t'sorospermia " (Trans. Path. Soc., 

 London, 1890, xxi., p. 320). 



Other cases are more or less dou :. I, such as Virchow's (Arch. f. 



1 Pianese has confirmed the fact that coccidia actually occur in the blood of the 

 hepatic veins of infected rabbits. 



