TMIA SOLIUM. 
BY 
D. G. WOOD VINE, M. D. TAENIA SOLIUM. 
BY 
D. G. WOODVINE, M. D., 
BOSTON. 
Reprinted from Transactions of State Homoeopathic Medical Society, 1868. 
ALBANY: 
VAN BENTHUYSEN & SONS’ STEAM PRINTING HOUSE. 
1868.  SOLIUM. 
In the following paper I do not presume to give the profession 
any new ideas on the subject of the Taenia solium. It is known 
that investigations upon the manner of its development, by the mass 
of the profession, have been limited. The subject is a somewhat 
isolated one, and treatises upon it are not numerous. In fact it 
has been but a few years since its stages of development have been 
properly understood. 
It is my design to give a simple and concise explanation of 
these various stages of development, beginning with the ovum, 
together with the diagnosis, prognosis and treatment. I am obliged 
to acknowledge the valuable aid I have received in investigating 
this subject from the works of Kiichenmeister, Yon Siebold and 
W einland. 
The tsenia solium is improperly named, since many are some- 
times found in the same intestine. Kiichenmeister in making a 
series of experiments upon a murderer condemned to death, admin- 
istered 72, 60, 36, 24 and 12 hours before execution, 12, 18, 15, 
12 and 18 specimens of cysticercus celluloste, partly in rice or ver- 
micelli soup, cooled to a blood heat, and partly in blood puddings. 
He says that “ on dissection forty-eight hours after execution, I 
found ten young taenia.” 
The taenia solium is an hermaphrodite. Its development, to be 
easily understood, I shall divide into two periods. The first 
period is that which includes all the phenomena surround- 
ing the ovum, from its introduction into the stomach until it has 
attained the highest point of development possible in the animal 
that has received it. The second period is that which includes all 
the phenomena connected with the product of the first period of 
development after it is received into the stomach until it is fully 
developed. These two periods are divided by Kiichenmeister into 
five stages of development, viz:—“ First, the sexual animal—pro- 
glottis; second, the grand nurse—six hooked embryo; third, the 
resting scolex—cysticercus cellulosee in the parenchyma, areolar 
tissue and cavities of the body.” The phenomena of these three 
stages complete the first period of development. “ Fourth, the 
active scolex—nurse, that is, the cysticercus cellulose, which will 
become a tapeworm in the intestine; and fifth, the strobila—the series 4 
of segments of taenia solium produced by gemmation from fourth— 
taenia solium.” The phenomena of these last mentioned complete 
the second period. 
The proglottis is a segment or capsule which contains nothing 
but the male and female generative apparatus. Figure 1, 2 and 3. 
Eggs are produced by this apparatus, which pass into the external 
world and being swallowed by some animal are digested, the six 
hooked embryo set free, and thus the first stage in the process of 
development is attained. Figure 4. The second is the grand 
nurse, or six hooked embryo. This is a product of the proglottis, 
formed by a union of sperm and germ cells. The proglottis hav- 
ing the power of motion, extricates itself from the mass in which 
it is deposited, crawls upon vegetables, discharges its eggs natur- 
ally or by accident. These are swallowed by animals, the shells 
destroyed, and the six hooked embryo set free. As soon as this 
is accomplished the grand nurse draws together the two centre 
hooks, and performs its duties in the process of development by 
boring its way through the stomach into the abdominal cavity, or 
into the portal vein, or it may, after passing into the abdominal 
cavity, bore on still further, until it gets into the general circula- 
tion. It is here carried along with the current of blood to some 
remote part of the system, and if not injured in its passage, it 
continues its migration still further. If the hooklets are worn off, 
it then becomes a permanent resident of the capillaries, producing 
irritation and inflammation, and finally becomes enveloped in a 
cyst. When it takes up its abode in serous cavities, it does not be- 
come thus enveloped. This brings us to the third stage in the 
process of development, which is called the resting scolex, or the 
cysticercus cellulosse. It has been found iii different portions of 
the human body, viz., the brain, the eye, liver, vena porta, heart 
and muscular tissue. 
The process of development is rapid (see the New American 
Cyclopasdia), “so that in a week or two the cyst may be recog- 
nized by the naked eye. The spines or hooklets now drop off, 
the primary vesicle goes on absorbing nutriment, and by the 
second or fourth week there grows out a protuberance from its 
internal surface, which soon takes the form of the head of the 
future ttenia. Figure 5. Upon this there springs up a double 
circle of small hairs, which, in six weeks, become the complete 
coronet of hooks. Figure 6. The neck now begins to extend, but 
the head still remains enclosed in the bladder until the whole animal is set free.” The cysticercus cellulosse may, for want of ail opportu- 
nity of development, remain in its resting place until it dies of old 
age. This brings us to the consideration of the fourth stage in the 
process of development, or the active scolex. 
The hog, if I mistake not, is the animal above all others in 
which the cysticercus cellulosse is found. Its habits are too well 
known to need description. Pork is eaten by a large portion of 
mankind, and consequently is the chief means of developing the 
tape worm. The resting scolex, coming under the influence of 
digestion, is set free, becomes the active scolex, attaches itself to 
the walls of the intestines, and makes man the fruitful field of an 
unwelcome product. I am not satisfied, however, that pork is the 
only means by which man becomes acquainted with the cysticercus 
cellulosse. In a case of taenia solium, which I treated a few 
months since, the gentleman was opposed to the use of pork in 
any form, and yet he was discharging proglottides every day or 
two. Upon inquiry into his habits of eating, he told me that he 
was very fond of ox liver just warmed over the coals; in fact, 
said he, “ I can eat it very well raw.” I do not know, but in this 
case the measle was developed in the hog, for the careless habits 
of our market men make it possible to transfer the cysticercus 
cellulosse, if the knife is not cleansed after cutting pork before 
using it to cut other meat. There seems to me, also, to be a pos- 
sibility,— and I know of no reason to the contrary, — that the ox 
may have swallowed the grand nurse in water, or have eaten it 
upon vegetables. The habits of the hog are of such a character 
as to be convincing in regard to the probability of finding the 
measle more frequently in them than in other animals. We have 
abundant proof that where persons are connected with pork pack- 
ing establishments, and make a practice of eating freshly salted 
pork raw, many of them are troubled with tape worm. That the 
active scolex only makes an attachment to the walls of the intes- 
tine, I think we may doubt. I have recently become acquainted 
with a case where the man discharges the proglottides by the 
mouth ; concomitant symptoms are convulsions and vomiting. I 
cannot, for myself, see how there can be an attachment to the 
walls of the intestine and the segments be discharged from the 
mouth. The greater portion of taenia are undoubtedly in the bowels, 
and this goes far to prove that the active scolex forms its attachment 
there. Figure 7. Having made this attachment, we are brought 
to consider the fifth and last stage in the process of development, viz., the strobila, or series of segments. Figures 1, 2 and 8. From 
the head grow one after another numerous joints, which finally 
make up the mature worm. The length of tsenia solium varies, 
the average being about twenty-five feet. Kiichenmeister says : 
“I counted eight hundred and twenty-five segments in one case, 
and in which the specimen was ten feet two inches in length.” 
This same author says: “From the two hundred and eightieth 
segment onwards there is seen, in the median line of the cestoidea, 
a simple brownish yellow canal, with short, lateral offshoots, 
toward which two transverse, slightly colored, lines (seminal cord 
and vagina) run from the sides. At the three hundred and seven- 
teenth segment commence the first indications of the alternating 
pori genitales, in the form of prominences; at the three hundred 
and fiftieth, the pores themselves become distinct. (Figure 3, A.) 
Between the two hundred and eightieth and the four hundredth seg- 
ments an accumulation of small, yellowish, loose aggregations of 
corpuscles lying in the parenchyma is seen gradually becoming more 
distinct; from the four hundred and twentieth segment onwards, the 
upper end of the median canal (uterus, figure 3, E) becomes enlarged 
and clubbed, and the first commencement of the so-called ova col- 
lect in the lateral offshoots, which at first appear to stand more 
closely in the upper than in the lower half of the segment. From the 
five hundredth segment, the lateral shoots exhibit a tendency to 
give off smaller shoots or excrescences towards the sides, but these 
always appear to be larger and more numerous in the upper half 
of the segment, and never reach directly to the main stem. From 
the six hundredth segment is seen one shelled, clear ovum, which 
moves readily in the offshoots of the uterus after the preparation 
has been treated with acetic acid. From the six hundred and 
twenty-fifth we find two shelled ova, which constantly become 
thicker and darker colored, until in the six hundred and fiftieth 
and seven hundredth segments they nearly resemble the mature, 
although still mixed with an abundance of immature ova, and 
then exhibit the little embryo with its six booklets.” 
Since the above was written I have had an opportunity to inves- 
tigate this subject more extensively, having had three cases under 
my care. Case 1, brought me several fresh proglottides for 
examination. I cut off a portion of the segment near the median 
line as thin as possible and with the aid of a Tolies objective 
discovered an abundance of what I suppose to be sperm and germ 
cells, but no distinct ova. Case 2, by request brought me similar 7 
specimens with which I determined to pursue a different course. 
A segment was placed in pure water and lacerated lengthwise 
through and on both sides of the median line with needles, sup- 
posing that the true ova would escape or float out into the water. 
After this had been accomplished I removed the segment and put 
the water into cells and examined it under the microscope and 
found that I had succeeded in obtaining large quantities of the 
eggs. They have in comparison to their size a very thick shell 
and under a fifth objective magnified seven hundred diameters the 
six hooked embryo may be seen, though not distinctly. The size 
of the ova by actual measurement is of an inch in diameter and 
they are of a spherical form. (Figure 4.) The thickness of the shell 
is the 7of an inch. No. 3, seemed different in appearance from 
the others in this respect. The genital organs could be seen very 
plainly. I had supposed this from appearance to belong to the 
same class, until the microscope revealed to me my mistake. 
Figure 9. The eggs instead of being spherical are oblong or oval 
measuring the of an inch in length and the of an inch in 
width and correspond to what Kiichenmeister calls taenia medio- 
eanellata. I mentioned this little experience to show how import- 
ant the microscope is in deciding even in regard to the nature of 
taenia. 
I have now traced out the taenia solium from the ovum, through 
all its various styles of development, back to the grand nurse. 
Still later I have received the Quarterly Journal of Microscopi- 
cal Science for July, and find the following statement from Lec- 
ture No. VII, on Invertebrata, before the Royal College of Sur- 
geons, by Prof. T. H. Huxley, F. R. S.: “The common tape worm 
is not T. solium but T. mediocanellata, which has no hooks. (Figure 
10.) Its hydatid or pupa harbors in the ox. A man who liked mutton 
seemed in spite of this discovery to be safe, but now, alas ! a hyda- 
tid has been found in mutton chop.” The facts that bring forth 
this remark are unknown to me. 
Diagnosis.—I can do no better than to give the result of See- 
gar’s experiments, who kept a statistical table of one hundred 
patients suffering from tape worm. Sixty-eight times there were 
cerebro-spinal affections and partial or general convulsions (for 
example, epilepsy, hysteria, melancholy, hypochondria, abdominal 
spasms, dyspnoea and convulsive coughing), which may even rise 
to maniacal attacks and mental weakness; forty-nine times nausea, 
even with vomiting and fainting; forty-two times various pains in 8 
the abdomen; thirty-three times disordered digestion and irregular 
evacuations; thirty-one times irregular appetite and voracity; nine- 
teen times periodical, habitual headache, usually on one side; sev- 
enteen times sudden colic; sixteen times undulatory movements in 
the abdomen up to the chest; fifteen times dizziness or delusion 
in the senses or defects in the speech; and eleven times shifting 
pains in various parts of the body. All these symptoms, however, 
are deceptive, the only true and reliable symptom being the dis- 
charge of the segments in various ways. 
The prognosis is not favorable, inasmuch as it has not yet been 
proved that the embryos cannot make their escape into the intes- 
tine and become converted into the cysticercus cellulosae. 
Treatment.—I shall not attempt to give the multitude of reme- 
dies that have been used to expel the tape worm, but mention 
those that have proved to be the successful ones. In the eases 
treated by myself, I have followed the plan of Prof. Beale, of 
London, in the use of the etherial oil of male fern. I request the 
patient to fast for twenty-four hours, after which I give two 
drachms of the oil of male fern in eight ounces of mucilage, fol- 
lowed in one hour and a half by two ounces of oleum ricini, and 
the worm is usually expelled. Kousso in a similar manner, has 
been used by many successfully; also an emulsion of pumpkin 
seeds. Spigilia, pomegranite bark and cina have some reputation. 
For corroborative evidence of the efficiency of the etherial oil of 
male fern, I refer to the British Journal of Homoeopathy, Vol. 
XXII, page 330, and Prof. Beale’s late work on Microscopy in 
Practical Medicine, page 264. 
In the British Journal of Homoeopathy, Yol. XXHI, page 441, 
I find the report of a case successfully treated with stannum and 
sulphur in third and sixth dilutions. When the cysticercus eellu- 
losae makes its resting place in the eye, it may sometimes be 
safely removed by the knife.  
Fig. 4 
Proglottides of a Taenia mediocanellata, 
invarious stages of contraction.. leuckaxt 
%2 
Pro glottis of a Tsema solmm. 
Natural size . Klicherirneister. 
Pig. 3 
A .Ovum of’Taenia solium previous 
to segmentation]} GBE.Segmentation 
in-the impregnated ovum. 
F Appearance of the early embrio 
with its three pairs of silicrous spiMets. 
Gr Mature ovum. Embrio inclosed 
-within its leathery case. leuckarh 
Proglottis of Taenia solium magnified. A. Genital pore, with its 
preputial coyer or sheath-skin, B.Lemniscus, C The oviduct.!).The 
seed vessel, E The uterus, F. The water vascular system of vessels. 
Rokitansky. 
Charted Van BenUuu/sen & Sons Fig. 5. 
fl§.6. 
Circle of hooks,highly magnified. 
Ieuckart. 
AX aieral views of s go arate ho oklets 
B- Inferior or concave "border of hookLets. 
C. Illustration of the movements andposi- 
tion ofthehooMets,fhe verficalline running 
throughtheXxedpomt of each ofthethree 
hooks. Chambers Ency. 
A.Head and neck of Tsenia solium 
B. Circle of hooks. 
Tig. 7. 
A.Fully developed Cysticercus cellulosse orMeasle, 
taken fromfreshpork,natural size., B.Cysticercus from 
salted porkj C. Same as A/magrafied three diameters. 
D. Same as C, with.the Bead and "body withdrawn from the caudal vesicle. 
Chambers Ency. 
Charles Van Btndnzysut Sons. Fig. 8 
StroEila or-senes of segments. 
Dacosta 
Fig 9 
Eggs of Taenia mediocanellata 
Euchenmeister. 
Fig 10 
Head of Tseraa mediocanellata. 
Showing fourlarge suckm-g-discs. 
Aitlien's Practice 
Chariee Van Benthuysen ftSons-