CHAPTER XIII. 



Helminthia {Intestinal Worms). 



Few things are more wonderful in the range of physical 

 science than the fact, that the bodies of living animals 

 form the world in which other animals pass their lives ; 

 and few things are more calculated to humble the arro- 

 gance of man, and to "stain the pride of his glory," than 

 the knowledge that he carries about with him, and in him, 

 multitudes of creatures that fatten upon his flesh, dwelling 

 securely in the midst of his organs and tissues, and riot- 

 ing unmolested on his various solids and fluids. At least 

 eighteen or twenty species of internal parasites have been 

 enumerated as infesting the internal cavities and tissues 

 of the human body ; and almost every other animal has 

 species peculiar to itself, as well as some which are com- 

 mon to several. 



A few of the more characteristic of these forms we will 

 now briefly consider ; and, repulsive as the subject un- 

 doubtedly is, we shall discover not a few proofs of Divine 

 wisdom and benevolence in the provisions made for the 

 sustenance and safety of vermin so unprepossessing as 

 these. 



In the substance of the liver, or other cellular organs 



