96 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 
Effects and Remedies. 
These eggs are well protected by a shell, but when taken 
into the human stomach, or into the stomach of sheep, cattle, 
or figs, they are acted upon hy the gastricjuice and then im- 
mediately hatch. The embryo is a very minute worm, very 
different from the parent, and provided with six little hooks, 
by means of which it digs its way through the lining of the 
intestine into the blood-vessels, and entering the circulation 
they are carried to the various organs of the body, where they 
develop into the peculiar cysts first described, and thus cause 
disease and death. When lodged in the brain, they are most 
dangerous, soon causing insanity and death by their rapid 
growth and consequent pressure. In the lungs they are also 
very dangerous and often fatal ; in the liver they cause severe 
disease, often terminating fatally ; and in other organs the 
effects differ according to the nature of the organ. When 
the lodgement is among the muscles, or near the exterior of 
the body, the tumors may be removed by a surgical operation, 
or even by simple puncture, they may be destroyed. The dis- 
charge of the contents is fatal to the life of the hydatid 
opened, but there may be many others adjacent that will not 
be affected. Injections of iodine, etc., after opening, are un- 
necessary. When in the internal organs there is generally 
no remedy, though by chance the cyst may of itself burst, as 
sometimes happens, when, if the discharge takes place through 
some natural channel, recovery is possible, but such cases are 
of very rare occurrence. In the majority of cases the true 
nature of the disease is not suspected until a post mortem 
examination reveals it, or until the tumors burst or are 
opened, when a microscopic examination of the matters dis- 
charged gives reliable evidence ; but many of these hydatid 
tumors are no doubt observed and treated by physicians, who 
do not even suspect what their real character may be, because 
they have neither suitable instruments nor sufficient knowl- 
edge to make the requisite examinations. Chemical tests 
may be applied to the liquid discharged, it is said, with satis- 
factory results. The properties of the fluid are described as 
follows: “If the sac be not inflamed, it is limpid, has a 
specific gravity of 100%zer100Msaied contains no albumen, 
