58 
Siebold is of the opinion that the worm was not swallowed until just 
prior to the second attack, and that the irritation caused by its pres- 
ence in the stomach caused a recurrence of the earlier h3\sterical 
symptoms. Blanchard (1890a, 89), on the other hand, thinks that the 
worm may have been swallowed as a larva and that it developed to the 
. adult stage in the patient. 
Case of Pateubax, 1875. — Patraban exhibited before the medical society in 
Vienna a specimen which he determined as Gordius aquaticus, sent to him by a col- 
league in Dalmatia, Austria, and said to have been passed in the stool of a Dalmatian 
boy 8 years old. 
The assumption seemed justified that the worm was actually passed from the boy, 
because Patruban, upon expressing doubts upon this point and asking for further 
information, received word that a second such worm had been passed. 
Opinion is expressed either that the boy swallowed a larval Gordius^ 
which developed in his intestine to the adult worm, or that he swal- 
lowed a developed worm. Patruban believes the latter view more 
probable. Blanchard (1890a, 89), considering this case in connection 
with the case of Siebold, 1854:, believes rather that the worm maj" have 
been swallowed as a larva and developed in the patient. 
i 
Case of Cereuti & Cameraxo, 1888a-b. — In 1875, in Trabucco, Valle Superiore 
Mosso (Biellese), Italy, a boy of 7 years old manifested severe gastralgic pains, which 
confined him to bed for 24 hours, when Dr. Cerruti was called. The following day 
' the child vomited abundant mucus with a female Gordius villoti [= G. aquaticus^ 0.19 
meter long, but without any trace of food. Thereupon the patient recovered. 
The authors are of the opinion that this was a case of true para- 
sitism; that the boy had become infected with the parasite in its 
microscopic, armed, stage; that this had developed in the wall of the 
stomach, then returned to the lumen of the stomach, when it caused 
the s^unptoms observed. 
?Case of Cameraxo, 1888f, 397. — Camerano states that Professor Pavesi sent to him 
a female Gordius villoti \_=G. aquaticus'] found at Brescia, Italy, in December, 1874, 
on a dissecting table near a human cadaver. There is, however, no evidence that 
the worm came from the cadaver. 
Doubtful species GORDIUS CHILENSIS E. Blanchard, 1849. 
1849: Gordius chilensis'E. Blanchard, 1849d, 109 (Valparaiso, Conception, etc., Chili). 
Oeigixal specific diagxosis. — Gordius: “G. Gracilis, cinereofuscus, obscurus; 
capite nigro.” 
Type locality. — Valparaiso, Conception, etc., Chili. 
Authors admit that this species is too incomplete!}" described to be 
accepted at present. In the original account of the worm it is stated 
that the Indians fear it, believing that if introduced into the body it 
causes serious desease. No specific case seems, however, to be reported. 
