Master of suspense

Michael Gochfeld gochfeld at eohsi.rutgers.edu
Wed Sep 25 16:47:44 EDT 2002


Ken, thanks for the interesting Hocking reference.  I object to the term
scoleciasis which is derived from animals with scolex-es (i.e. Tape Worms), and
Myiaisis is the correct technical term for fly larvae (maggots).  This leaves
people free to provide a new term for lep-larvae-living-in gut-lining.  What
does the code have to say about that?

Ken is right, of course, that quite a few organisms are well adapted to being
swallowed, resisting stomach acid, and establishing infestations or infections
in the gut. But those are organisms who have "chosen" that life style, so I am
skeptical that a Pieris rapae would be viable after passing the pylorus. Unless
it should prove to be a duodenal subspecies. What would the code have to say
about that?

Still an interesting story that excited a lot of interest.   I'm glad to know
that I'm not the only one behind in my reading.  The Readers Digest on my desk
is dated 1957.

Mike Gochfeld

Kenelm Philip wrote:

>         I've gotten a number of queries re my posting about _Pieris rapae_
> larvae living in the human gut. Most wanted to know my source for this
> tidbit, and many found it hard to believe that the caterpillars survived
> passing through the stomach. One objected to the phrase "living in the
> human gut", and said it should have read "_on_".
>
>         So, here's the source: "Six-Legged Science" by Brian Hocking (1968),
> p. 101. Here is the quote in its entirety:
>
> "I should perhaps mention at this point that there is an uncommon condition,
> referred to in medical jargon as scoleciasis, in which the human gut houses
> living caterpillars. The term scoleciasis should properly be restricted to
> an infestation with tapeworms, but that no other term has been coined for
> this other condition serves to emphasize that it is not common. Interest-
> ingly, the commonest caterpillar involved is our friend the imported cabbage
> worm, taking up residence presumably when its host eats raw or undercooked
> cabbage, and maintained by his continuing to do so in uncommon amounts. So
> perhaps it is well to notice tiny white pillars [eggs]--or tiny green
> caterpillars--on cabbage leaves, and give them an extra chew in passing.
> So far as I know, these caterpillars never mature on the lee side of the
> stomach or on the wall of the large intestine, so that the expression
> 'butterflies in the stomach' remains no more than a metaphor, at least as
> regards living ones."
>
>         For the people who thought the caterpillars could never survive
> going through the stomach and its acids, note that there is a well-known
> condition, called myiasis, in which live maggots reside within the body.
> Intestinal myiasis is one form that this can take, and Evens (in "Life on
> a Little-known Planet") notes that "A wide variety of fly larvae, including
> some otherwise relatively harmless ones, are able to establish infections in
> the digestive tract if swallowed." As involves stomach acids, Evens states:
> "The maggots of some of the myiasis producers are remarkably tough. Pro-
> fessor James reports that some have been kept in 95 per cent alochol for
> an hour and have been known to produce adults; they will also survive for
> some time in hydrochloric acid, turpentine, or carbolic acid.
>
>         And after all, tapeworm eggs manage to make the journey unscathed.
>
>                                                         Ken Philip
>
>
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