240 



THE AMERICAN 



Larv^ in Human Bowels — JFesi Chester, 

 Pa., April 14, '70. — The article in the .March 

 number of the Entomologist on " Lan'oe in the 

 Human Bowels," brings forcibly to mind a case 

 ill iioiiit. wliich I will briefly rehitc. About tlie 

 la-l 111' September, lSn2, my little daughter, aged 

 liiiii- \ curs and a lialf, while on a visit to a friend, 

 ate a htrge quantity of Catawba and Isabella 

 grapes, from tlie vines in the garden, to wliich 

 she liad free access. A few days afterwards she 

 was viiilcntl\- atlarkcil with dysentery, from 

 whicli she (liril in alniiil three w cel^s. During 

 iiev illness till' nidticins tVoni the liowiels were 

 IVeiiniMitly and critically examined by myself 

 and another physician in attendance with me, 

 without detecting any larva:. 



One year after interment, the ohl burial ground 

 was required to be vacated, and tlie liodies were 

 removed to a new cemetery. While superintend- 

 ing the removal of the remains of my child, I 

 requested the undertaker to remove the lid of 

 the inner coflin, and to my great amazement I 

 beheld hundreds of dead and dried lai-v£e (such 

 as represented in your Figure 93) adhering to 

 the clothing and lining of the coffin. There 

 were no evidences of the perfect fly, the larvie 

 seeming to have died while crawling about in 

 vain eftbrts to escape. I cannot be mistaken as 

 to the larvm, as I particularly noticed the ar- 

 rangement of the branchial spines on the sides 

 and back of one, with a pocket lens, and as they 

 had all died in an extended position, the two 

 black hooks on the inferior surface of the head 

 were plainly visible. Having paid some atten- 

 tion to entomology for some years previous, I 

 recognized it as the larva of some Dipterous 

 insect, with which I was nnaeiinainted, and I 

 wmidercd at their presence in sucli nnmbers, as 

 the body was kept in a cold and darkened room, 

 the weather being so cold at the time as to 

 require fire throughout the house, and all flies 

 having disappeared except the common House- 

 fly. The conclusion at which I arrived at the 

 tune was, that the ova of these larvae had been 

 deposited on the body before interment. The 

 (|uestion now arises, was the disease a symptom 

 of the presence of these larvas,and were the ova 

 taken in with the fruit? 



W. D. Haetman, M.D. 



Beech-boring hxiiyx—Detroit, Mich., April 

 !), 1870. — The accompanying rough sketch will 

 give some idea of a boring lately observed by 

 me in Beech-wood. I also enclose, in three dis- 

 tinct stages, the larvae whose work tliis is. The 

 general direction of these borings is almost al- 

 wa> s horizontal or at right angles to the grain 

 of the wood, and frequently they are exactly 



parallel to each other as though laid off with 

 mathematical precision. At first the passages 

 are without the side branches or galleries, but 

 after about the first inch, and sometimes before, 

 these begin, as shown in my sketch, which is 

 natural size. They are mostly at riglit angles to 

 the mainway and perpendicular, or with the 

 grain of the wood, and many of them are per- 

 fectly parallel to each other. I found but a single 

 larva in each boring. Tins seems a remarkable 

 amount of work for so small an insect, uotwith- 

 standiug its powerful jaws. The earliest stage 

 of the larva is found in the simple, the more 

 advanced stages in the compound or branched 

 passages. The character of this excavation, 

 though, appears to depend much on the quality 

 of the Beech. Where the wood is smooth and 

 even the perforation is correspondingly straight 

 and sjTnmetrical, and the side chambers .do not 

 so soon appear, or not for at least an inch ; but 

 where knotty, wrinkled or contorted grain is 

 met witii by these little engineers, we find their 

 work less regular and with more tortuous wind- 

 ings, the side chambers brandling ott" sometunes 

 at once in such cases. When encountering a 

 knot or other similar obstruction they change 

 their course in accordance, following the twisted 

 grain on one side of it. Sometimes the excava- 

 tions do not enter the sohd wood immediately, 

 but wind between it and the bark for a* few 

 inches. I have also obsei-ved some instances of 

 three or more maiuways leading ott' from one 

 general entrance, at angles of about twenty 

 degrees. The entrance, in the bark, is some- 

 what smaller than the interior, and is generally 

 closed, being not easily perceived. These larvae 

 were taken from their excavations on the first of 

 April. 



On the ninth of April (this morning) I found 

 several species of the beetle or perfect insect, 

 some of which I also send herewith. ' These were 

 usually in the small side chambers, but towards 

 the entrance of the boring, as though making 

 their way out. In two instances I took two of 

 these beetles from a single chamber into wliich 

 they were tightly wedged. They appear dor- 

 mant at first, but afterwards are quite lively. 



I do not send specimens of the borings ft-om 

 the fact that the first I found, and from wliich 

 my drawing was made, were unfortunately not 

 preserved by me, and I have since failed to ob- 

 tain as fair specimens. Iiulccd. ii is lallier difii- 

 culttoget them out without siioilin," llieiii. And 

 in my eagerness to obtain the insects I was not 

 as careful as I might have been to preserve their 

 dwellings, which I generally had to destroy in 

 order to get the inmates. So von will have to 



