134 CHEMISTRY OF THE ANIMAL PARASITES 



tions produced by extracts of Tcenia saginata, which negative 

 finding is supported by Cao, 1 and by Boycott, 2 using various 

 sorts of tsenia. These results contradict the earlier positive 

 findings of Messineo and Calamida, 3 who found extracts of 

 tsenia from dogs to be hemolytic, chemotactic (especially for 

 eosinophiles), and to cause local fatty degeneration in the liver. 

 Possibly these differences in results are due to the fact that dif- 

 ferent parasites were studied by different investigators ; further- 

 more, tests of toxicity of human parasites upon rabbits and 

 guinea-pigs can hardly be considered conclusive. Le Dantec 

 did not find a precipitin for Tcenia saginata extracts in the blood 

 of persons harboring this parasite. 



Picou and Ramond 4 state that tsenia extracts undergo putre- 

 faction very slowly, and attribute this to a bactericidal property. 

 Weinland 5 has found' that many intestinal parasites exhibit 

 antitryptic properties, but in a study of the histological changes 

 of autolysis I observed a ta?nia in the intestine of a dog undergo 

 more rapid karyolytic changes than did the intestinal epithelium. 

 Dastre and Stessano 6 state that extracts of Tcenia serrata act 

 upon enterokinase, rather than on trypsinogen. 



NEMATODES 



Ascaris. The toxicity of members of this group is a 

 matter of dispute, although, as with the Tcenia, there have 

 been observed in patients symptoms that were more easily 

 explained as due to chemical substances than as due to mechani- 

 cal irritation. Miram, 7 while studying Ascaris megalocephala, 

 suffered from attacks of sneezing, lachrymation, itching, and 

 swelling of the fingers, v. Linstow suffered from a severe 

 attack of conjunctivitis with chemosis after touching his eye 

 with a finger that had been in contact with one of these worms. 

 Others have had similar experiences, and it has been found 

 that the fluid from these worms is toxic to rabbits (Arthus 

 and Chanson, 8 Vaullegeard 9 ). Blanchard, nevertheless, con- 

 siders that the toxic manifestations observed in patients 

 infected with these worms are most probably due to bacterial 

 infection of the injured intestinal mucosa. Jammes 10 found 



^iforma med., 1901 (3), 795. 

 2 Jour. Pathol. and Bacteriol., 1905 (10), 383. 

 3 Cent. f. Bakt, 1901 (30), 346 and 374. 

 *Compt. Kend. Soc. Biol., 1899 (51), 176. 

 5 Zeit. f. Biol., 1902 (44), 1 and 45. 

 6 Compt. Rend. Soc. Biol., 1903 (55), 130. 



7 Quoted by Nuttall, Amer. Naturalist, 1899 (33), 247. 



8 Cent. f. Bakt., 1896 (20), 264. 



9 Quoted by Blanchard, loc cit., p. 98. 



10 Assoc. francaise pour Pavancement des sciences, 1902 (31), 241. 



