Cases and observations illustrating the history and pathological relations of two kinds of hydatids, hitherto undescribed / by Dr. Gairdner and Mr. Lee ; with microscopical observations by Mr. H. Goodsir.

  • Gairdner, John, 1790-1876.
Date:
[1844]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Cases and observations illustrating the history and pathological relations of two kinds of hydatids, hitherto undescribed / by Dr. Gairdner and Mr. Lee ; with microscopical observations by Mr. H. Goodsir. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

    10/54 (page 10)
    ture, (PI. V. Fig. 5); numerous disks of various sizes were seen scattered over its external surface, and larger disks were sometimes seen with two or three smaller ones upon them. Numerous tubuli ramified through the membrane, and opened on its surface, by means of small stomata, which were generally arranged round the edges of the disks, (PI. V. Fig. 8.) Immediately underneath the mem- brane already described, there was a layer of cellular substance which connected it with another of a much more delicate texture. From observations made upon another, and also new form of ace- phalocyst,* I have been led to suppose that a third membrane ex- ists in this hydatid, which probably lies internal to the two others, and from which the delicate septa which traverse the gelatinous mass of the body arise.-^ The stomata and tubes which were ob- served in the external membrane could not be traced into the deeper parts of the body of the animal. When a small portion of the external or tubular membrane was placed under the microscope, its internal surface was found to be studded with numerous small shining bodies or cells. In ge- neral these cells were compound, containing from one to four, or more young cells in their interior.:): These I looked upon as the gemmules of this hydatid, which, like the other acephalocystic entozoon, is gemmiparous. The younger or contained cells were sometimes seen free and detached from the parent cell, floating in the gelatinous contents of the parent hydatid. The tubular mem- brane, as it extends over the peritonseal surface, after arriving at a certain stage of growth, throws off cells similar to those just described from its attached surface, and invariably from spots in the neighbourhood of the large tubes.§ These cells enlarge, not by any apparent cellular development, but, like those of the common acephalocyst, by simple dilatation from the addition of new matter in the interior. As this increases, the tubular membrane in the neighbourhood becomes thicker, owing to the increased number of tubes necessary for the nourish- ment of the young cell. In this entozoon there are two modes of propagation, one for in- creasing the size and extent of its own individual group ; the other for the purpose of extending the species to as yet uninfest- ed portions of the infested animal. The first mode of propagation we have just described ; the se- cond would appear to proceed in the following manner:—The gem- mules, by some means or other, escape from the parent acepha- locyst, reach the uninfested tissues at some distance from the ge- neral parasitic mass,|| and thus in time form new groups, which, * Vide, p. 279. * Ibid. + Transac. R. S. E., vol. xv. p. 503. § Ibid. vol. xv. pi. xv. fig. 2, C.