The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1875-04-01
The Hair Worm, or H0rse.Hair Snake

A lady friend who resides on Russian
Hill has sent US lively specimen of that
singular species of animated nature
commonly known as "the hair worm :"
or horse snake" 1t came into the
possession of our friend from the faucet
in her dwelling, connected with the
Spring Valley water works. She init
mates that it is just a little dangerous
to indulge in aqueous potatioDs from the
faucet in the dark We should think it
was. In answer to her inquiries as to
its origin, and how it came all the way
through the pipes, we append the fol-
lowing: d.
Most of our readers are doubtless
| familiar with the form and appearance
of this singular worm or snake, and
many of US, when boys, and some of US
when full-gruwn men and women, were
fully impressed with the belief that a
hair from horses tail, when left in a
pond or other still, warm water, would
turn into one of these singular creatures
1t has been popular belief that if in
cautiously handled it will bite the ends
OF the fingers and occasion that peculiar
sore or gathering called a whitlow. But
the microscope shows that it has neither
jaws nor other instruments by which it
can either bite or sting. Indeed, it has
not even mouth-but obtains its sus-
tenance by the absorption of fluids
through q membrane over that part of
its body where the mouth should be.
Joseph Leidy, a well-known Philadel
phia professor, once tried series of ex-
haustive experiments to prove that this
popular notion of its origin could not be
true. The microscope and scientific in
rQCfr Cratr hon ell
proven that this, like every other liviD =
creature, springs from an egg in the
first place.
Science informs US that this is not an
insect but belongs to that class of para
site worms which live and thrive for a
certain length of time in the intestines
or substances of some other body, like
the tape-worm in the human system and
the trichin9 in the hog. The name of
the genus to which this worm belongs is
GOrdtas, and there are quite number of
different species. Tie most common
species of this genus, and that to which
the one now before us belongs, live in the
bodies of grasshoppers, crickets and va
rious other insects; but when nearly ma
ture and full grown they bore their way
out of their insect home and take to the
water or moist earth, where after a few
days they lay their eggs, which are al
most innumerable. They are laid in
long strings, which look like very fine,
white sewing cotton tOne of these
worms was seen by Prof. Leidy, while he
was experimenting, to lay string ninety
tlaclsts toRgi These eggs are exceedingly
small-so small that upward of 1900 OF
them have been counted in one forty
fifth of an INCH as thus laid in a string.
This would give something like six mill
ions of eggs as the product of the single
worm observed by Prof. Leidy.
The eggs, exposed TO the warm summer
sun, hatch in about one Month and lib
crate worms which have very little or no
resemblance to their parents. The pro-
fessor, during the Investigation, succeed
ed in Matching several eggs They pro-
duced small, tadpole shaped creatures
with spine and two circles of sharp
hooks-six in a circle-which could be
pushed in and down out from the head
This forms kind of boring apparatus
by which the tadpole can penetrate the
bodies of such insects as may approach
them. The professor placed some of the
Larvae of May flies in the vessel in which
the eggs were Matched and soon the
young tadpole G0rdu were seen to bore
thIH way IuiO tHt IlISd lucy WeIe
also seen TO penetrate the delicate MEM
brane al the joins of the legs of crickets
and grasshoppers which were confined
and placed in the vessel. They were
carefully watched and it was found that
they gradually assembled among the mus
cles and OTHER organs of the bodies,
strongly reminding one of the similar
but slower movements of trichina in the
muscles of man and the hog.
OF course, their change from the tad
pole condition to the worm takes place
within the body of the insect in which
they take up their temporary home, lv-
ing and increasing by the nutritious
fluids there found until nearly or qui .
fully grown That such is the case has
been verified by the report from Mr.
Justice Gage, who some years since wrote
TO the Michigan Farmer. as the result of
his observations, that he had discovered
that the cricket resorts to the water dur
il G the month of August to rid itself of
its unweleome intruder. Mr. G. had
been led to believe that the hair worms,