T^NIA MEDIOCANELLATA. 241 



total absence of the rostellum, but great abundance of the so-called 

 calcareous corpuscles. 



Statistics. — As the means of distinguishing the two fore- 

 going tapeworm- species become more readily and widely diffused, 

 so may we hope to arrive at a more accurate estimate as to the 

 relative abundance of the last-described worm as compared with 

 the Tmnia solium. Hitherto both have been classed together, and 

 it has been assumed that the Tcenia mediocanellata is a compara- 

 tively rare species in this country. I for one, however, do not 

 doubt that their respective prevalence will ultimately be found to 

 be pretty well on a par, though, probably, the T. solium will main- 

 tain a slight ascendancy, partly in consequence of the cheapness of 

 pork as compared with veal and beef, and partly because the lower 

 classes are slow to be instructed in any matters which suggest or 

 involve a change in their habits of life, and especially any alteration 

 as regards their food. Drs. Barclay, W. T. Gairdner, and many 

 others in this country, have published cases where their patients 

 were disgustingly addicted to the habit of eating raw flesh ; but, of 

 all the striking facts which have come to light on this score, none 

 will bear comparison with those recorded by Kaschin.* This pro- 

 fessional observer, speaking of the Burates, or Cossacks of the 

 Baikal region, says, " In Irkutsk, the Burates stationed there as 

 Cossacks, and who, in part, have been away from their homes for 

 many years, are, almost all of them, infested by tapeworms ; some 

 individuals harbouring as many as fifteen specimens at a time. In 

 one hundred and thirty post-mortem examinations only two bodies 

 were found entirely free from these parasites, and among five hun- 

 dred other persons, treated in hospital, the existence of these 

 entozoa was demonstrated in all. Certainly, the presence of these 

 parasites cannot cause surprise when the habits of their bearers are 



* First communicated by Kaschin in the Russian language (" Petersburger Med. 

 Zeitung," 1861, vol. i., p. 366), and subsequently communicated (in Grerman) to 

 Professor Leuckart by Herr C. Paulson of Petersburg. See Leuckart's " Die MenscW. 

 Parasiten," erst Bd. s. 748. 



I I 



