DISEASES OF THE HOG, 91 
Figure 76.—This very minute worm is found in 
the larva stage in large numbers in the flesh of 
some pigs, dogs, cats, rats, mice, rabbits, guinea- 
pigs and many other animals, in the natural state 
in the intestines of the same animals. The male is 
very small, measuring only one-eighteenth of an 
inch. The female is stouter and longer than the 
male, measuring about one eighth of an inch. The 
young trichinae occur embedded in the muscles of 
the pig and various other animals. They are so 
small as to be quite invisible to the eye and mill- 
ions of them may be in the flesh of the pig without 
producing any unusual appearance; even an ex- 
pert could not detect them without the aid of the 
microscope. This is why so many deaths occur 
from eating pork filled with this parasite. When 
these little worms are first introduced into the mus- 
cles of the pig they are free and coiled up among 
the fibers of the muscles; but after a few weeks they 
become incased in minute whitish, elongated cysts, 
supposed to be the result of irritation set up by 
their movement and feeding. Figure 76. In a year’s 
time these cysts become calcified by a deposit of 
carbonate of lime in the membrane; when this 
takes place minute white specks about the size of 
‘hemp-seeds may be seen in the muscles. When 
the worms are inclosed in the cyst they lie dormant 
and although they may live for years and even 
weeks after the death of their host they can do no 
further harm, unless they are eaten byman or some 
animal. Each cyst contains a little slender worm 
about one twenty-fifth of an inch long and one sey- 
