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THE OCCURRENCE OF A SLUG (UMAX SP.) 
IN THE HUMAN STOMACH. 
By C. GORDON HEWITT, D.Sc., F.R.S.G., 
Dominion Entomologist, Ottaiva, Canada. 
The recent note by Shipley ( Parasitology , vi. 351-352) on the passage 
of a slug, Limax marginatus Miill., through the human digestive tract 
prompts me to place on record a similar case which came under my 
notice last summer. 
On July 31, 1913, an elderly woman, Mrs G., of the city of Ottawa, 
on the advice of her physician brought to me a live slug measuring about 
3‘5 cm. in length. The specimen, which was in water, was still alive 
and was evidently a species of Limax, one of the common cream-coloured 
garden slugs. 
Mrs G. informed me that on the previous night after retiring she 
had experienced uncomfortable stomachic feelings, as her food, which 
had been taken at irregular intervals during the day, was not being 
digested. In order to rid herself of the feelings of discomfort she got 
up and took an emetic with the result that the slug was vomited. 
A careful enquiry as to her previous diet elicited the following facts. 
Since about a fortnight previously she had not eaten any uncooked 
green or other food from the garden, with the exception of a few nastur¬ 
tium flowers, which could be ruled out. All her vegetable food had 
been well boiled and she was in the habit of thoroughly masticating 
her food. All possible sources of introduction were eliminated with the 
exception of some fresh lettuce eaten about a fortnight previously, and 
this appeared to be the only possible means by which the slug gained 
access to the stomach. In a retracted state it is conceivable that a slug 
would escape injury by the teeth if taken in upon such food. The 
comparative absence of green food and the presence of a pink colouration 
in the alimentary tract of the slug supported the idea that it had been 
in the woman’s stomach for some time ; but she had felt no ill effects 
from its presence until the previous evening. 
