THE special-creatio:n-hypothesis. 343 



portal yein, tlie intestine, tlie bladder, tlie eye. Then we 

 have the Trichina spiralis^ which passes through one phase of 

 its existence imbedded in the muscles and through another 

 phase of its existence in the intestine ; and which, by the 

 induced disease Trichiniasis, has lately committed such ra- 

 vages in Germany, as to cause a panic. And to these we 

 must add the Guinea-worm, which in some part of Africa 

 and India, makes men miserable by burrowing in their legs. 

 From this list of entozoa, which is by no means complete, 

 let us pass to the epizoa. There are two kinds of Acan, 

 one of them inhabiting the follicles of the skin, and the 

 other producing the itch. There are other creatures that 

 bury themselves beneath the skin, and lay their eggs there ; 

 and there are three species of lice which infest the surface of 

 the body. Nor is this all : besides animal parasites, there 

 are sundry vegetal parasites, which grow and multiply at 

 our cost. The Sarcina ventricuU inhabits the stomach, and 

 produces gastric disturbance. The Leptothrix huccalis is 

 extremely general in the mouth, and may have something 

 to do with the decay of teeth. And besides these, there are 

 microscopic fungi which produce ringworm, porrigo, pityri- 

 asis, thrush, &c. Thus the human body is the 

 habitat of parasites, internal and external, animal and ve- 

 getal, numbering, if all were set down, some two or three 

 dozen species ; sundry of which are peculiar to man, and 

 many of which produce in man great suffering and not un- 

 frequently death. What interpretation is to be put on these 

 facts by those who espouse the hypothesis of special crea- 

 tions ? According to this hypothesis, all these parasites 

 were designed with a view to their respective modes of life. 

 They were endowed with constitutions fitting them to live 

 by absorbing the j lices of the human body ; they were fur- 

 nished with appliances, often of a formidable kind, enabling 

 them to root themselves in and upon the human body ; and 

 they were made prolific in an almost incredible degree, that 

 their germs might have a sufficient nxmiber of chances oi 



