412 HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF TiENIA SAGINATA. 



ledge of the writings of the Greek physicians, and of the natural 

 sciences. In this way the word would come to be used vsrith its special 

 meaning 1 by the Arabians, and through them by the French or Spanish 

 authors of the Middle Ages. The phonetic transition from the 

 original schuscM-^ {e is only the plural termination) to sol-ium might 

 be thus explained. Among the Arabians it would be changed into 

 susl or sosl, and among the romance authors it would lose the second s, 

 first in pronunciation, and then in writing, just as the disappear- 

 ance of the s before the consonant can be proved in m^me (for mesme), 

 tie (for isle), maitre (for maistre), &c. Sylvius says in his " Isagoge" — 

 " S ante t et alias quasdam consonantes in media dictione (that is to 

 say, in the middle consonant) raro ad plenum, sed tantum tenuiter 

 sonamus et pronunciando vel elidimus vel obscuramus." 



We shall now, however, turn from this etymological excursus, 

 which has given us a thoroughly satisfactory explanation of a for- 

 merly almost meaningless appellation. 



The above-mentioned statements of Andry are aU the more 

 important in connection with our subject, since they are accompanied 

 by drawings and descriptions which leave not the slightest doubt 

 regarding the nature of the Toenia or of the Solium. The " Tcenia " 

 turns out to be the present Bothriocephalus, with its uterine-coils, 

 which were regarded as vertebrae (hence Tcenia h, epine), and the 

 Solium " (T. sans epine) turns to be a large-jointed Toenia; not, 

 however, the Tcenia solium of later and modern helminthologists, 

 but quite undeniably, as has already been mentioned, Kiichen- 

 meister's Tcenia mediocanellafa, with its firm joints and large black 

 head^ (somewhat too large in the picture). As to the idea that the 

 four suckers were eyes, and that the uterine coils were vertebrae, we 

 will pardon its naivete, and by no means judge it so harshly as other 

 investigators have sometimes done. The designation, " Ver sohtaire," 

 which Andry uses for his Solium, also suits Tcenia saginata, and was 

 but little objected to until men acquired a more accurate knowledge 

 of Tcenia solium, Eud., which often occurs in numbers. 



Andry was, however, not the only investigator of that time who 

 described the modern Tcenia saginata as Solium-, as is shown, for 

 instance, by the pictures in Vallisnieri's treatise, " De vermium 

 humani corporis." These figures undoubtedly represent the charac- 

 teristic peculiarities of the former worm. 



1 It may be pointed out in this oonneotion that even at the present day the tape-worm 

 (Tcenia saginata) is extremely prevalent in Syria. — See M4m. acad. MSd. Paris, p. 998, 

 1877. 



'' " Ce ver a la tdte noire, plate, un pen arrondi, oti sont_quatre ouvertures, deux d'un 

 o6td et deux autres au c6t6 oppos^, " loo. cit. This showrs how incorrect is the assertion of 

 Kiiohenmeister ( ' ' Parasiteni^';^^^^jjU]ji^gtel,p^jy(j^ndry saw no head in his Tcsthia. 



