98 
ABSTRACTS OF CASES OF HTMEXOEEPIS OI3IIXUTA 
IX :ne\x. 
AMERICA. 
Boston, 1S4:'2 1 case. 
^Veixland 1 1S5S . 'was the first to record the occurrence of this tapeworm in man. 
His account (1S5S, p. 59 i in part reads as follows: 
■‘Among the helminthological specimens with which Dr. J. B. S. Jackson kindly 
furnished us for further investigation, from the collection of the Medical Improvement 
Society, Boston, there was a phial containing a number of pieces of a small tape- 
worm. In the catalogue of the collection we find these specimens mentioned under 
Iso. 903, with the following words: hi i second i specimen of Bothriocephalus, 3 feet 
in length, and from line to IX hues in width; from an infant. The joints are 
very regular, except at one extremity, where they approach the triangular form, are 
very delicate, and but slightly connected, as shown in a drawing by Doctor Wyman. 
From a very healthy infant 19 months old: it had been weaned about six months, 
and had had the usual diet from that time. The worm was discharged without 
medicine, its presence having never been suspected. 1842. Dr. Ezra Palmer, jr.’ ” 
Weinland recognized the fact that this specimen was not a Bothriocephalus, but a 
tapeworm belonging ‘‘to a group of T^eniods, whose members thus far had only been 
found in small omnivorous or insectivorous mammalia ( mice, shrew-mice, etc.) and 
birds.” Xot perceiving its identity with Tania diminuta. he accordingly described it 
as a new species, at the same time establishing it as the representative of a new 
genus, and gave it the name of Hifmenolepis da vopunctata ( see p. S2i. 
Philadelphia, Pa.,lSS4 .-1 case. 
Leldy ( 1884a. p. 110. 1884b, p. 137 ) recorded a case of Taenia davopunctata 
' =Htjmenolepis diminuta ) from a 3-year-old child, who had expelled several pieces of 
at least 3 worms after treatment with santonin. This child, native of Philadelphia 
but of German parentage, had been weaned at 20 months, and since then partaken 
of the same footl as its parents. The specimens from this case are preserved in the 
Helminthological Collection (Xo. 841) of the Bureau of Animal Industry. 
Sao Paulo, Brazil, 1893 1 case. 
Lutz ; 1894, p. 62) received a tapeworm for determination which had been passed 
after tr^^atment with santonin, by a 2-year-old child, daughter of Portuguese settlers, 
living at Sao Paulo, Brazil. The specimen had about 960 segments, several of which 
were sterile; the posterior segments were completely filled with eggs, and the 
rostellum was rudimentary and unarmed. Lutz identified it as Hyrnenolepis dim- 
inuta, and by comparison with specimens from the rat confirmed Grassi’s observa- 
tions as to the identity of Taenia davopunctata of man and Taenia diminuta of the rat. 
The parasite is very common among the rats of Sao Paulo. 
Rio Janiero, Brazil, 1896 1 case. 
The patient in this case i 5 Iagalhaes, 1896) was a mulatto child, 20 months old, 
born m a neighboring city, but for about a year living in Eio Janiero, at the zoo- 
logical gardens, where her father was employed. The child had been suffering for 
about 3 months with diarrhea, frequently sanguineous in character. Treatment by 
various physicians was of no avail. According to the parents, the child’s food con- 
sisted exclusively of milk and beef tea. After the administration of a dose of 
calomel a worm was passed, which was referred by the attending physician to 
Magalhaes for determination, who identified it as Hyinenolepis diminuta. The child’s 
parents asserted that a similar worm, somewhat longer, and also fragments, had 
been passed previously. The child continued to suffer with diarrhea. Treatment 
