OCCURRENCE OF COCCIDIUM IN MAN. 



223 



fore suppose with a certain probability that the patient lived in con- 

 ditions in which he was associated with the animals in such a way 

 that the Coccidia voided in the rabbits' dung were transferred to him. 

 Perhaps he had for a lengthened period drunk from a cistern standing 

 in connection with the rabbits' Iiutches. 



If we are not mistaken in our supposition as to the mode of trans- 

 mission of the hepatic Coccidia, man may derive them from rabbits 

 by eating substances which have been contaminated by their excre- 

 ment ; and considering the frequency with which these animals occur 

 in our yards and houses, it is very probable that the Coccidia have a 

 wider and more frequent distribution than is generally supposed, 

 though perhaps occurring only in certain localities and in small 

 numbers. 



Nor is this a mere probability. Even in the first edition of this 

 work I was able to report ^ that Dressier had found Coccidia (Psoro- 

 spermice) in the liver of the human subject. Tlrey were enclosed in 

 three cysts about the size of a millet-seed or a pea, which lay close to 

 the periphery of the liver. The character of the contents, as seen in 

 the accompanying reproductions of his figures, left no do\xbt as to the 

 nature of the tumours (Fig. 114). 



I am indebted to the courtesy of Professor Perls in G-iessen for 

 being now able to cite two additional cases. He sent me last No- 



FlG. 114. — Coccidia from the human liver — A x 330, B and C x 1000. 



vember a drawing and a section which had been made by Professor 

 Sattler in Vienna during a course of pathological anatomy. From 

 both drawing and preparation one could recognise the cross- section 

 of an enlarged bile-duct, with a very proliferous epithelium and with 

 Coccidia. The latter were partly removed from their original position 



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