On the structure and development of the Cysticercus cellulosae, as found in the muscles of the pig /cby George Rainey ; communicated by R. D. Thomson.

  • Rainey, G. (George), 1801-1884.
Date:
[1857]
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the structure and development of the Cysticercus cellulosae, as found in the muscles of the pig /cby George Rainey ; communicated by R. D. Thomson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    6 VIII. On the Structure and Development of the Cysticercus cellulosse, as found in the Muscles of the Pig. By Geoege Kainey, M.R.C.S., Lecturer mi Anatomy and Demonstrator of Practical and Microscopical Anatomy at St. Thomas s Hospital. Communicated hy K. D. Thomson, M.D., F.R.S. Eeceived January 16*,—Bead March 19, 1857. I AM aware that this parasite has been found in various other animals besides the Pig, also that it occasionally infests the human subject, but as I have not had the opportu- nity of examining it in the latter, and as my opportunities of investigating its structure and development in the former have been very abundant, I shall confine my observations to this entozoon as it occurs in the Pig. The Cysticercus in its developed state is found chiefly in the ordinary muscles lodged in the cellular intervals between the fibres, also on the surface of the muscles imme- diately beneath their fascial investment. These parasites infest the heart in as great abun- dance as other muscles composed of striped fibres, where they are situated, some in the substance of the walls of the auricles and ventricles, others directly beneath the pericardium between it and the muscular fibres, and others just under the endocardium. They occur also in the muscular coat of the oesophagus, almost as low down as the stomach. But as in the Pig the striped fibres extend nearly to the inferior extremity of this tube, the presence of Cysticerci there forms no exception to their usual position in muscles composed of striped fibres. I found but very few in the lower part of this tube, and as yet I have not met with them in the muscular coat of the intestines, in that of the large vessels close to the heart, in any of the glandular organs, nor in any of the structures of the lungs. However, in one pig, very much infested with them, I found one Cysticercus under the mucous membrane of the larynx, also one behind the peritoneum near to the kidney. As these appear to be probably only accidental cases, I am inclined to regard the striped muscles as the true seat of this species of Cysticercus. This Cysticercus., when sutficiently developed to be apparent without the aid of the microscope, is seen to consist of an oval cyst, about half an inch in length, having a white globular body in its centre; but if the muscle in which these animalcules are con- tained has been exposed for a few hours to the air, the white bodies will be the only part very distinctly visible; the cysts in this case having become collapsed from the evaporation of their fluid. If, however, the muscle be put into water for a short time, the cysts will become redistended, and rendered as apparent as before. As often as * The observations described in this paper were originally communicated to the Eoyal Society on the 27th of June, 1855. See Proceedings of the Eoyal Society for December 13, 1855. Q 2 A