entozoa

pl. [Gr. entos =within, and zōa, pl. of zoon a living being, an animal.] Zool .: The name given by Rudolphi to a cla of animals living within the bodies of other animals, nearly every species of which is infested by one or more of them. Cuvier divided them into In test in a Cavitaria and In test in a Parenchymata. For these names Profe or Owen substituted Cælelmintha and Sterelmintha. The cla is not a natural one, for the internal parasites are not all closely akin. Nor has Entozoa been always used in a precise sense. Hence Nicholson thinks that it would be expedient to discard it altogether, but, as this would be difficult, he makes it include the Trematoda, Tæniada, the Nema to idea (in part), the Acanthocephala, and the Gordiacea, but does not use it as a synonym for the Scolecid a in general, some of which are not internal parasites. Cobbold says that the Entozoa living in the human body are divided into three cla es the already mentioned Cælelmintha or hollow worms, and Sterelmintha or solid worms, as tapeworm, .; and Accidental parasites. Also divided into sexually mature and immature, the latter inclosed in cysts, and occurring in the lung, liver, or inclosed cavities, like the peritoneum, being by far the most dangerous. *ěn-trăm-mels, s . pl . [ENTRAMMEL, v.] 1. Bondage, the chains of slavery. 2. Prisoners of war. entreatment