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LIFE, IN ITS LOWER FORMS. 



the cysts in which they had been enveloped had disap- 

 peared; at the same time most of the worms which had 

 been deprived of their cyst had also lost their terminal 

 vesicle, which had either been digested or still adhered in 

 fragments to the abdominal extremity. All the worms 

 found in the stomach, whether with or without their vesicle, 

 had their head and neck withdrawn into the body. 



" Three hours after ingestion there were no longer any 

 worms in the stomach ; they had all passed with the 

 chyme from this organ into the small intestine. Then, 

 after having lost their cyst and terminal vesicle by the 

 digestive action of the stomach, they all, without excep- 

 tion, as though feeling themselves at home, had again 

 pushed out the head and neck. In all, a distinct lesion 

 was perceptible at the abdominal extremity, at the point 

 where the terminal vesicle had existed. 



" In dogs killed several days after the ingestion of the 

 Cysticerci, these worms were found greatly increased in 

 size ; the largest had attained a length of three inches, 

 the smallest of one inch. The body, at first merely 

 wrinkled transversely, now distinctly exhibited the articu- 

 lations, and the point torn by the loss of the vesicle 

 actually presented a cicatrix. 



" After twenty or twenty-five days, the worms were 

 several inches in length ; they were articulated to the 

 extremity of the abdomen, and the last of their joints still 

 bore the cicatrix above mentioned, which was still very 

 perceptible ; traces of sexual organs even were already to 

 be discovered in the posterior segments. 



" At the end of eight weeks the worms had attained a 

 great length (the longest were from 36 to 39 inches). 



