REPORTS OF CASES. 
451 
was found dead. The suddenness of his death aroused our 
suspicions and a post-mortem was held. 
The autopsy revealed at least two very interesting speci¬ 
mens. At the post-mortem table the following notes were 
taken : Condition fair; coat smooth ; blood of good quality ; 
muscles normal in color and consistency ; fat is evenly distrib¬ 
uted ; the respiratory, digestive and urinary apparatuses nor¬ 
mal ; the peritoneum was slightly injected. One of the inter¬ 
esting specimens just alluded to occurred free in the perito¬ 
neal sac just under the left kidney. It was a beautiful speci¬ 
men of Eustrongylus gigas. This parasite, according to 
Cobbold, is very common in carnivorous animals. Very com¬ 
monly found in the kidney, ureter and bladder of these ani¬ 
mals, but nowhere can I find a case recorded where it has 
existed free in the peritoneal sac. The same author says it is 
more often found in fish-eating animals. 
Furtheimore he says, u It is by far the largest nematode 
mown to science, the male sometimes measuring a foot in 
length, and the female more than three feet, whilst the breadth 
of the body reaches half an inch in the thickest part. 0 The 
specimen obtained by me was ten and one-quarter inches long, 
of a bright red color, as thick as a stone slate pencil. 
Through the body ran a very much circumvoluted white 
band, about one line in width, from the mouth to the anus. 
At the head were easily seen the six wart-like papillae de¬ 
scribed by Cobbold, and at the anal extremity is the cup-like 
structure which is of a pure white color, and which partly 
conceals a single spicula. How did this worm get into the 
peritoneal sac ? The kidneys offered no evidences of a rup¬ 
ture by which this worm might have dropped into the peri¬ 
toneal cavity. How it got there is to me a mystery. The 
next interesting point came when we examined the heart. 
This organ weighed between nine and ten ounces. The peri¬ 
cardium was normal. The muscul-ar tissue showed evidences 
of an active inflammation, especially around the left ventricle. 
There was discoloration of the parts. The endocardium was 
the seat of a very severe inflammation, especially that lining the 
left ventiicle. One of the flaps of the bicuspid valve had a 
