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WORM

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Originally appearing in Volume V28, Page 832 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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WORM ,' a See also:

term used popularly to denote almost any See also:kind of elongated, apparently limbless creature, from a See also:lizard, like the blindworm, to the See also:grub of an See also:insect or an See also:earthworm. See also:Linnaeus applied the Latin term Vermes to the See also:modern zoological divisions See also:Mollusca, See also:Coelentera, See also:Protozoa, See also:Tunicata, See also:Echinoderma (qq.v.), as well as to those forms which more modern zoologists have recognized as See also:worms. As a See also:matter of convenience the term Vermes or Vermidea is still employed, for instance in the Inter-See also:national See also:Catalogue of Zoological Literature and the Zoological See also:Record, to See also:cover a number of wormlike animals. In systematic See also:zoology, however, the use of a See also:division Vermes has been abandoned, as it is now recognized that many of the animals that even a zoologist would describe as worms belong to different divisions of the See also:animal See also:kingdom. The so-called flatworms (See also:Platyelmia, q.v.), including the See also:Planarians (q.v.), Flukes (see See also:TREMATODES), Cestodes (see TAPEWORM) and the curious See also:Mesozoa (q.v.), are no doubt related. The marine Nemertine worms (see See also:NEMERTINA) are isolated. The thick-skinned See also:round worms, such as the See also:common See also:horse-worm and the threadworms (see See also:NEMATODA), together with the See also:Nematomorpha (q.v.), See also:Chaetosomatida (q.v.), See also:Desmoscolecida (q.v.) and See also:Acanthocephala (q.e.), See also:form a fairly natural See also:group. The See also:Rotifera (q.v.), with probably the See also:Kinorhyncha (q.v.) and See also:Gastrotricha (q.v.),. are again isolated. The remaining worms are probably all coelomate animals. There is a definite Annelid group (see See also:ANNELIDA), including the Archiannelida, the bristleworms (see See also:CHAETOPODA), of which the earthworm (q.v.) is the most See also:familiar type, the See also:Myzostomida (q.v.), Hirudinea (see See also:LEECH) and the armed Gephyreans (see See also:ECHIUROIDEA). The unarmed Gephyreans (see See also:GEPHYREA) are now separated from their former associates and divided into two See also:groups of little See also:affinity, the See also:Sipunculoidea and the See also:Priapuloidea (qq.v.). The See also:Phoronidea (q.v.) are now associated with Hemichordata (q.v.) in the See also:line of vertebrate ancestry, whilst the See also:Chaetognatha (q.v.) remain in solitary See also:isolation.

Mention is made under TAPEWORM of the worms of that See also:

species inhabiting the human See also:body as parasites, and it will be convenient here to mention other parasitic varieties. The most common human See also:parasite is the Ascaris lumbricoides or round worm, found chiefly in See also:children and occupying the upper portion of the See also:intestine. They are usually few in number, but occasionally occur in such large See also:numbers that they cause intestinal obstruction. Unlike the tape-worm no intermediate See also:host is required for the development of this worm. It develops from See also:direct ingestion of the larvae. Various 'The O. Eng. wyrm represents a word common to See also:Teutonic See also:languages for a snake or worm, cf. Ger. Wurm, See also:Dan. and Swed. See also:orm, Du. Worm. The See also:Lat. vermis must be connected. The See also:Sanskrit word is krimi, which has given See also:kermes, the See also:cochineal insect, whence " See also:crimson." See also:Skeat takes the ultimate See also:root to be kar, to move, especially in a circular See also:motion, seen in " See also:curve," " circle," &c.

The word " worm " is applied to many See also:

objects resembling the animals in having a See also:spiral shape or motion, as the spiral See also:thread of a See also:screw, or the spiral See also:pipe through which vapour is passed in See also:distillation (q.v.). As a term of disparagement and contempt the word is also used of persons, from the See also:idea of wriggling or creeping on the ground, partly, too, perhaps, with a See also:reminiscence of See also:Genesis iii. 14.symptoms, such as See also:diarrhoea, See also:anaemia, intermittent See also:fever, restlessness, irritability and See also:convulsions are attributed to these worms. The treatment is the See also:administration of See also:santonin, followed by a purgative. The threadworm or Oxyuris vermicularis is a common parasite infecting the rectum. The larvae of this worm are also directly swallowed, and infection probably takes See also:place through See also:water, or possibly through lettuces and watercress. The symptoms caused by threadworms are loss of appetite, anaemia and intense irritation and itching. The treatment consists in the use of enemata containing See also:quassia, carbolic See also:acid, See also:vinegar or See also:turpentine or even common See also:salt. In addition mild purgatives should be given.

End of Article: WORM

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