Plague Doctor

In a clear square glass box, a snail creeps slowly.

It is an amber snail, a snail spread throughout the country.

It used to live in dark, humid places like grass, ditches, etc. It enjoys both heat and humidity, withstands drought and cold, and floats on aquatic plants and water. It feeds on humidors, as well as lichens, fungi, mosses, algae, young buds and leaves of plants.

The shell size of amber spirals varies widely, usually in the form of long ovals with 3-4 screw layers, the shell height is 5-15 mm, the width is 3-8 mm, the shell is thin, the shell surface is light yellow or yellowish brown, the body is transparent or translucent and glossy.

But this snail in the glass box, those two tentacles, they're extraordinarily swollen, and compared to normal amber spires, they're like two abominable proliferations.

And in its transparent body, you can clearly see something in there, but not its visceral organs.

Suddenly, it creeps faster, and it creeps wildly at a rate that snails normally can't reach.

Its two swollen contact angles, reflecting bright light, appear to be two drill bits, spinning constantly and flashing constantly.

“Class, this is a snail infected with a parasite. The colors and the light you see are actually a lot of parasites that are worming around in it. ”

In the biology class of this university, with the teacher's words, the teaching screen plays a tenfold slow-length image, or this amber snail, and the students see the creepy details, and it's not really a natural glow.

It's snails filled with parasites, one by one, and they keep pushing and beating.

“It's a double sucker, which changes the shape of the snail's body and controls the snail's brain. ”

The image on the teaching screen is changed, the double disc sucker, a parasite that looks huge under the lens.

These biology students, some frowning, some curiosity, some already know.

“First the snail eats the worm eggs of the double suckler.” The middle-aged man's teacher preached, "That's how the parasite got into the host. ”

“The worm egg then develops into a spore sac, predominantly parasitic in the liver of the snail. At this time, the snail still showed no abnormality. It may not even know it has bugs in it, and the nutrients it eats so hard are constantly being stolen by the parasites. We are not snails, and we are uncertain about this, nor do we know exactly how they feel. ”

There was a smile in the classroom, but the students quickly calmed down.

They looked at the simulated images on the screen, demonstrating how the parasite grew, how it grew, and then branched out from the snail's body, into those two tentacles, and formed a complete spore sac, filled with larvae.

It is they that keep the snail's contact angle expanding so that it does not contract properly that it can only hang brightly outside.

Looking at these images, some students really feel sorry for the snails that were parasitized by double-tray bugs.

“Once in the snail's eye handle, the double-disc straw begins to have the ability to control the host. Snails would have liked to move at night, but after being controlled, they would move in daylight, well-lit places, and move as fast as three times as fast as a normal snail, which may already be the physiological limit for snails. ”

The teacher instructed the lesion snail in the glass box on the podium, and its contact angle flashed like a neon lamp.

“How do you control snails? They haven't been studied yet, classmates. We'll see about that later.

But these parasites are really smart, and they make snails so colorful, they lose their sense of fear, and they walk in the sun so dramatically, so noticeable, they also control snails climbing higher leaves, those particularly noticeable places. For what? To be seen by birds. The birds looked at something shiny there, and it was a bug, and they flew over and ate it. It's actually a snail's tentacle, and it's all double-disc suckers. ”

The teacher paused, picked up the chalk and wrote it down on the blackboard, emphasizing the tunnel: "Aggressive posturing, this is where parasites benefit. ”

Aggressive anatomy, a biological concept, in short, the use of mating promises, false foods and other means to lure prey.

Pig cage grass, for example, mimics flowers to attract honey-mining insects. Eating, surviving, reproducing, is the wisdom of nature.

“Snails are the first intermediate host.” The teacher wrote to the blackboard as he preached: "The bird is the second middle host. The double-disc suckler enters the bird and reproduces there, and then the eggs are expelled with the bird dung, which is eaten by other snails... so it starts over and over again. ”

Students hear a bit of goosebumps, double suckers use snails as fake food, and prey is birds.

A small parasite, millicents in size, has such a nasty and bizarre trick.

And score clear days and nights, high and low, prominent and hidden.

Whether it's wisdom or instinct, it's amazing.

“Teacher, can a double sucker control birds?” A male student asked.

There is no evidence to suggest that this is the case. ”

“Can it enter the human body? ”

“It's not a human parasite.” The teacher laughed and said, "Our bodies are more complex than snails and birds, and we have a stronger defense system to stop double tray worms. But we also have a lot of parasites to deal with, and it's hard to do things like nematodes. I know what you want to ask, no, there's no such thing as a parasite that controls human thought and behavior. ”

“Perhaps there is a kind of money.” The teacher added, "The English name is Money and the Latin name is AES. ”

In the classroom, once again, students smile.

Indeed, humans are not snails, parasites are not so easy to control.

And at the same time, in that clear glass box, the snail was wriggling wildly for a second, wriggling.

……

Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo

“Hello, is this Wang Jiawei's mother? I'm Lee Woo-ho's mom. Yeah, our son's in a dorm. ”

“Hello, Mama Uho. What can I do for you? ”

“Well, Yu Hao told us last night that he and a few of his classmates went to your house to party and spend the night there. I called him in the morning, nobody picked him up. It's almost noon, nobody picked him up, and he hasn't come home yet. I also have Jiawei's number here, and a few other classmates. I called them and nobody answered all of them...”

“Is that so... Mama Woo Hao, me and Kawaii's dad are in the field these past few days. Don't worry, it must be late for the young people's party. You don't have to go to school today, it's no surprise all night. Maybe they're not awake yet, so nobody answers. ”

“I think so too, but it's always a little strange... these kids don't send out circles of friends. When did they get together before? ”

“Well... why don't I ask the district manager to send someone to my house to see what's going on and maybe get drunk? ”

“Okay, Mama Carver, that's bothering you. ”

“What are you so kind about? It's also a party by Kawai. ”

The call is over.

Less than half an hour later, the call reconnected.

“Hello, Mama Uho? I just went to see the security guard, nobody was home, and I found my garage open. I looked at the picture and an MPV was driven away. I asked the security guard to check the neighborhood surveillance. The car was driven out last night. Jiawei drove the car. Yuhao and the others were in the car...”

“What... Carver can drive? Where are they? ”

“I don't know yet, Mama Yu Hao, it should be fine. The young man is out of his mind. Let's not mess around. ”

“Stop it, call the police. Let's call the police. ”

“Wait, this hasn't come to that yet, don't make a scene... Mama Yu Hao, don't look at the car that Jiawei drives, I thought I was only thinking about my son. What if it's all of them who do bad things? We don't know, I mean, if they touch the marijuana, the ecstasy, the police destroy them, we have to think for the kids. ”

“Hey! You... they're not safe now, aren't we the first to think about it! My Yu Hao is not the kind of person who touches drugs. ”

“I'm like, wait, Mama, look at the circle of friends! I see Carver just sent a circle of friends. Did you see if Yu Hao had hair? ”

“Ah, let me see, hey, there, there, there! Yu Hao just sent one too. Why didn't you answer the phone when the kid was here? You didn't call me back for a letter. You scared the shit out of me. What does this circle of friends mean... ‘I see God, I am his incarnation in the human world. ’ ”

“... that's what Kawai Fa said, didn't they go to some concert to see which idol? ”

“Maybe so, this child... Kawai's mother, then I'll call Yu Hao, when he gets home, see if I don't smoke him. ”

“Young man, you don't have to scold me for going out crazy, but this Jiawei, I'm going back to clean him up. ”