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PSEUDO-PARASITISM. 
By A. E. SHIPLEY, Sc.D., F.R.S. 
Two very curious cases of pseudo-parasitism have recently come 
before my notice :— 
(1) Towards the middle of last year some centipedes were forwarded 
to me which had been vomited and passed by a women of 68 years of 
age. Some of the centipedes emerged through the patient’s nose, and 
it must be mentioned that she was also suffering from a round worm. 
One of her doctors was of opinion that the centipedes were certainly 
breeding inside the lady’s intestine, and as many as seven or eight, 
sometimes more, were daily leaving the alimentary canal. 
According to her medical attendant’s statement these centipedes 
had left the body in some hundreds during a period of twelve or 
eighteen months. Their presence produced vomiting and some haema- 
temesis, and treatment with thymol, male-fern and turpentine had no 
effect in removing the creatures. 
As soon as the specimens were sent to me I recognised them as 
belonging to the genus Geophilus and my friend Mr F. G. Sinclair, the 
well-known authority on the Myriapoda, identified them as specimens 
of the species G. gorizensis Latzel which is equivalent to the G. subler- 
raneus of Leach and Newport. 
It seems to me quite impossible that these centipedes could have 
multiplied in the lady’s intestine. The breeding habits of the genus 
Geophilus are peculiar, and ill adapted for reproducing in such a habitat. 
The male builds a small web or nest, in which he places his sperm, and 
the female fertilizes herself from this nest or web, and when the eggs 
are fertilized they are again laid in a nest or web in which they incubate 
and in two or three weeks hatch out. The young Geophilus differ but 
very little from the adult, except in size. It is just possible, but im¬ 
probable, that a clutch of eggs had been swallowed by the host when 
eating some vegetables or fruit, but against this is the fact that the 
Geophilus does not lay its eggs upon vegetables or fruit, but upon dry 
wood or earth. The egg shell is very tough and if the eggs had been 
swallowed the egg shells could certainly have been detected if the 
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