Alimentary-canal synonyms

A considerable part of the alimentary canal is said to be derived from the ectoderm in the buds of both Cephalodiscus and Rhabdopleura.

After a longer or shorter period it enters the alimentary canal of its proper host with drinking-water, or it bores through the skin and reaches the bloodvessels, and is so conveyed through the body, in which it becomes sexually mature.

The worm inhabits the lung of the frog and toad, and is hermaphrodite (Schneider) or parthenogenetic (Leuckart); the embryos hatched from the eggs find their way through the lungs into the alimentary canal and thence to the exterior; in a few days they develop into a sexual larva, called a Rhabditiform larva, in which the sexes are distinct; the eggs remain within the uterus, and the young when hatched break through its walls and live free in the perivisceral cavity of the mother, devouring the organs of the body until only the outer cuticle is left; this eventually breaks and sets free the young, which are without teeth, and have therefore lost the typical Rhabditis form.

It is probable that the parasite is then transferred to the alimentary canal of man by means of drinking-water, and thence makes its way to the subcutaneous connective tissue.