Estrus

“ Sexual relations are probably more or less promiscuous, although a male and female may rest and travel together in a semi-permanent association. In confinement only those males having markedly enlarged scrotal testes showed interest in females that were in oestrus. Post-partum females especially were eagerly pursued by such males. Anoestrus females are imperforate, and a vaginal orifice is present only during an active oestral cycle or in pregnancy. The perforate condition therefore, is a crude index of breeding activity in the population. ”

“ The obscure and singular habitations of the British oestri are the stomach and intestines of the horse, the frontal and maxillary sinuses of sheep, and beneath the skin of the backs of horned cattle. In other parts of the world they inhabit various other animals.
The larva of the oestrus bovis lives beneath the skin of horned cattle, between it and the cellular membrane, in a proper sack or abcess, which is rather larger than the insect, and by narrowing upwards opens externally to the air by a small aperture. ”

“ Oestrus lives in the nasal sinus, and Cephalomyia in the throat as well, Cuterebra and Rogenhofera, the skin or scrotum, so that we have really three groups of parasitic oestride larvæ: (i) cutaneous, (ii) intestinal, and (iii) facial.
[No species seems confined to man, but the so-called “creeping disease,” caused by Hypodermæ, and the attack of sheep nasal fly are comparatively common, as also is the Dermatobia attack.—F. V. T.] .
Cutaneous Oestridæ.
The eggs are deposited on the surface of the body; the larvæ burrow in the skin, which they reach after somewhat long peregrination.
Genus. ”

“ The genus Dermatobia represents the subcutaneous Oestridæ of Europe in warmer parts of America. Both domesticated and wild mammals are attacked, according to one statement birds also (Ramphastus) , and man with fair frequency.420 It is assumed that in all cases one and the same species is concerned, for which recently a name originating from C. Linné, jun. (Oestrus hominis) , has been employed. ”

“ I then explained to her the theory of the correspondence of moles on the various parts of the human body, and to convince her I ended by saying that her governess who had a large mark on her right cheek ought to have one very like it on her left thigh. At this she burst into laughter, and said, "I will find out, but after all you have told me I can only admire you the more for knowing what no one else does."
"Do you really think, Esther, that I am the sole possessor of this science? Undeceive yourself. All who have studied anatomy, physiology, and astrology, know of it." ”

“ Yet why do I mention those animals in which the property of the pneuma plays an important part, when it is possible to base one’s argument upon human beings, in whom it is either of no importance at all, or acts quite faintly and feebly? But Erasistratus himself agrees that human beings digest badly in fevers, adding as the cause that the activity of the stomach has been impaired. ”

“ I have myself observed a female ostrich, when her attendant gently scratched her back, which seemed to excite the sexual appetite, to lie down on the ground, lift up the velabrum, and exhibit and protrude the vulva, seeing which the male, straightway inflamed with a like œstrum, mounted, one foot being kept firm on the ground, the other set upon the back of the prostrate female ”

“ The stomach does not appear to exercise any traction. Now the fact is that the stomach possesses two coats, which certainly exist for some purpose; they extend as far as the mouth, the internal one remaining throughout similar to what it is in the stomach, and the other one tending to become of a more fleshy nature in the gullet. Now simple observation will testify that these coats [the mucous and the muscular coats] have their fibres inserted in contrary directions. And, although Erasistratus did not attempt to say for what reason they are like this, I am going to do so. ”

“ Thus it seems to me better that we also should help the Erasistrateans with some contribution, since we are on the subject, and should advise those who reduce the vessel called primary and simply by Erasistratus into other elementary bodies to give up their opinion; for not only do they gain nothing by it, but they are also at variance with Erasistratus in this matter. That they gain nothing by it has been clearly demonstrated; for this hypothesis could not escape the difficulty regarding nutrition. ”

“ Are there many birds that live on flesh?'
'A great many, Queen Esther. All creation, nearly, preys on some other part of creation—except that respectable number that are granivorous, and herbivorous, and graminivorous.'
Esther stood before the owl, musing; and Dallas, who was studying the child now, watched her.
'But what I want to know, is,' began Esther, as if she were carrying on an argument, 'why those that eat flesh look so much more wicked than the others that eat other things?'
'Do they?' said Dallas. 'That is the first question.'
'Why, yes,' said Esther, 'they do, Pitt. ”

“ He threw a great deal of additional light upon the structure of the lacteals, the valves of the heart, the brain, the nerves, and several other portions of the body; and he assigned to the pneuma, or breath,—of which he assumed that two kinds exist,—the most important rôle in the mechanism of life. According to the description given by Galen and reported by Le Clerc, the phenomena to which Erasistratus refers take place somewhat as follows: “When the thorax or chest expands, the lungs also undergo dilatation and fill themselves with air. ”

“ The other seven virgins being summoned, Esther first ordered them to strip the king perfectly naked, then she anointed the Royal priapus and fundus with the magic ointment, working her fingers so deftly, especially in the tight hole of the latter, that she soon perceived some signs of virility, as the lordly member began to throb and swell. ”

“ It is in this way that we may suppose the veins to be nourished; they get the benefit of the blood which they contain. But how about the nerves? For they do not also contain blood. One might obviously say that they draw their supply from the veins. But Erasistratus will not have it so. What further contrivance, then, does he suppose? He says that a nerve has within itself veins and arteries, like a rope woven by Nature out of three different strands. By means of this hypothesis he imagined that his theory would escape from the idea of attraction. ”

“ Who can duly appreciate the value of the press? Galen proved that the arteries are blood-vessels, and thus destroyed the error of Erasistratus. He said, when an artery is opened, blood alone gushes out and no air. He tied an artery at two places a little distance apart, and on opening the vessel found it filled with blood only. The followers of Erasistratus wanted to know how the air from the lungs entered all parts of the body, to whom Galen replied that the air entered the lungs to cool the blood, after which it was expelled. ”

“ The Serratus Posticus Inferior, commences in like manner with a large Aponeurosis in the Apophyses of the three lower Vertebra's of the Back, and of the first of those of the Loins, and is afterwards fasten'd by four Digitations to the four lower Ribs.
The eleven External Intercostal Muscles are situated in the spaces between the twelve Ribs passing obliquely and on the outside from the back part to the fore part. They take their rise below the Upper Rib, and have their Insertion above the lower Rib. ”

“ Like a fawn, which some deep mouthed hound has tracked to its hiding-place, Esther sprung from a pile of furs, and retreating to the furthest bounds of the wigwam, stood regarding the savage, her eyes full of wild terror, her white lips trembling, and every pulse in her body quivering with horror and disgust. ”

“ IT stuck filthily in the Camel's Stomach, that Bulls, Stags, Lions, Bears, and the like, should be Armed with Horns, Teeth, and Claws, and that a Creature of his Size should be left Naked and Defenceless. Upon This Thought he fell down upon his Mary-bones, and begg d of Jupiter to give him a pair of Horns, but the Request was so Ridiculous, that Jupiter, instead of Horning him, Order'd him to be Cropt, and so Punish’d him with the loss of his Ears which Nature had Allow’d him, for being so Unreasonable as to Ask for Horns, that Providence never intended him. ”

“ There is hardly one Œstrus in fifty that arrives safely in the stomach of the horse; and yet if one were to open a horse which had been attacked by the Œstri, the stomach would be nearly always found to have many of the larvæ sticking to its inside. Fig. 44, taken from a drawing which accompanies M. Joly's Memoirs, represents the state of a horse's stomach attacked by the Gad-fly larvæ. ”

“ How can I endure to see the destruction of my relatives?”
7Then King Ahasuerus said to Esther the queen and to Mordecai the Jew, “See, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and him they have hanged on the gallows, because he laid his hand on the Jews. 8Write also to the Jews, as it pleases you, in the king’s name, and seal it with the king’s ring; for the writing which is written in the king’s name, and sealed with the king’s ring, may not be reversed by any man.” ”

“ Elegy XIV (p. 128) :
“One day Etruscus brought to me a youth, so fair as is seldom seen at Jupiter’s board: “I give him up to you”, he said, “lay hold of him, that he may cling to you both day and night. May the gods grant you love him well; he will be wise if you but pedicate him.” ”

“ Chapter 14
1 Queen Esther also, being in fear of death, resorted unto the Lord:
2 And laid away her glorious apparel, and put on the garments of anguish and mourning: and instead of precious ointments, she covered her head with ashes and dung, and she humbled her body greatly, and all the places of her joy she filled with her torn hair.
3 And she prayed unto the Lord God of Israel, saying, O my Lord, thou only art our King: help me, desolate woman, which have no helper but thee:
4 For my danger is in mine hand. ”

“ From the mouth is a passage as far as the stomach; but the anus is indistinct; the feet and the thorax are hard, but less so than those of the cancri; it is not united with the shell like the purpura and ceryx, but is easily liberated from it. The individuals which inhabit the shells of the strombus are longer than those in the shells of the nerita. ”

“ This minute brick-red mite buries itself in the skin, especially about the ankles and feet, giving rise to papules, vesicles and pustules.
Treatment consists of the use of a mild sulphur ointment or of a carbolic-acid lotion. [Pg 278]
Œstrus. (Synonym: Gad, or Bot-fly.)
Describe the cutaneous disturbance produced by the œstrus.
The ova are deposited in the skin, develop and give rise to the formation of furuncle-like tumors with central aperture, through which a sanious discharge exudes; or as the result of the burrowing of the larvæ, irregular serpiginous lines or wheals are produced. ”

“ The delicate brows knit into a frown, the hand on Esther's arm tightened its grip.
"Then you don't think that for a man of his age and in his state of health typhoid is—is a thing to—to be frightened about? You would not be frightened for him?"
Esther glanced apprehensively at the bed.
"If you don't mind, Lady Clifford, I think we'd better not talk in here. One can't always be certain if he's asleep." ”

“ We will, however, speak about the stomach again. And the dispersal of nutriment [anadosis] need not make us have recourse to the theory regarding the natural tendency of a vacuum to become refilled, when once we have granted the attractive faculty to the kidneys. Now, although Erasistratus knew that this faculty most certainly existed, he neither mentioned it nor denied it, nor did he make any statement as to his views on the secretion of urine. ”

“ If the skin is so shrunken that it requires vigorous stretching, its body must be stuffed with straw after the neck and legs have been made and joined to a centre-board, precisely as directed for long-haired mammals above medium size. I may also remark in this connection that I have seen both the complete skin and skeleton of a large ostrich preserved and mounted to stand side by side, but I pitied the operator when he had to make a full set of bones for the legs and feet, and a wooden skull with the horny shell of the beak fastened upon it. ”

“ If, however, in order to explain how plethora comes about, we suppose the force of compression by the stomach to persist indefinitely, we have no further need of the principle of the refilling of a vacuum, especially if we assume contraction of the veins in addition—as is, again, agreeable to Erasistratus himself. ”

“ In the male the genitalia open into the anus; the sexual orifice of the female opens ventrally along the median line in the anterior half of the body, in the middle, or a little further back. Both sexes, moreover, have an orifice, the excretory pore, which is situated ventrally in the median line and about the level of the œsophageal nerve ring.
In large species, even with the naked eye, two lighter transparent bands—the lateral lines—may be distinguished ”

“ For he says that the stomach contracts peristaltically round the food during the whole period of digestion. But if it contracts, without in any way being diminished in length, this is because downward traction of the gullet is not a property of the movement of circular peristalsis. For what alone happens, as Erasistratus himself said, is that when the upper parts contract the lower ones dilate. And everyone knows that this can be plainly seen happening even in a dead man, if water be poured down his throat ”