Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1866-03-01

Tie Editor OF the View YORK laIl-Ef
Sir, More than year ago, IN th,
Pathological Institute of Berlin, afte
having eNamined-8t the instigaUion o
Prof Reed Virchou, its hesd-severa
samples Of food, saussges and wurst O
pork, which contained JrichinR, I wrOt,
and transmitted to this country an D.
count of the disease the use Of such food
had caused in Germany. This account
was a warning 70 the American people
II was q complete statement Of all the
knowledge pertaining 20 the SUBJECT
complied from many scientific papers. II
contained a history OF the trcnine dis
ease from the first cases, the cause o
which had been recognized down to thai
wear Impelled by q desire for the pub
iic health. I translated the works Of Prof
Tirchou. entitled our " knowledge Of the
Trichinse. " bat could find no publisher
willing % publish IT, What has trans
pirad since has only illustrated, by new
cases OF trichinOsis, the knowledge then
acquired. As the recent alarming state
mems upOn this disease, with sensation
headings, are calculated rather to mis-
lead than to correctly inform the public,
I repeat for your readers the correct sc-
count Of the trichinE and the disease and
deaths It caused.
The trichina disease has for several
wears engaged the attention Of the med
zeal men Of Germany. II is caused by
the penetration into and lodgmenU in
various parts Of the living human body
particularly. and finally in the muscles
OF the young of that species Of ent0zoa
long known 10 uaruralisUs as trichinE
suirals. The researches Of various OBJ
s6rvers concur 70 show tnat the older
parent trichinse infect the pig, lodge in
is lean flesh, then they reach the intes-
tinaI canal of the human body by having
been ateu IN the pork, and there give
birih % their Young. These penetrate
the walls Of the intestine, and finally
enter the muscles and remain there. Il
the bodies they have entered continue 10
I've they remain in g state Of suspension
or motion less animation, but ii they are
ia an animal whose flesh Is afterwards
eaten. they enter the intestinal canal, are
set free Ia the set Of digestion, produce
numerous bro0ds Of young, which pene-
trate the intestinal wall and enter other
parts of the body.
The symptoms they cause are various,
and vary with the stage Of intestatiOn.
Sometimes they are intestinal cat2rrh,
gastric disturbance, weakness and stiff
uess Of the muscular system, and some
times pain resembling g0ut or rheuma-
risrn. Uirh febrile conditions not parJicu-
larry unlike those of typhus fever
Sometimes the train Of symptoms IL
acute. and the infested person dies IN
few weeks sometimes the disease pro-
crosses slowly, with progressive enlacla-
ton and loss Of strength. As 70 the
rsme5v. fftheir presence in the intestine,
before the Young have penetrated other
parts Of the body, is suspected, the Obvi-
Gus remedy is purgation.
We are indebted TO the microscope for
our knowledge Of this disease, ami ii is
only one of the very many instances IN
(which this most important Of al phllosO-
phical instruments now used by man has
given Us truths which could never other
wise have even been suspected.
Several epidemics Of this disease have
occurred since the year 1855. These epi-
denies or groups Of cases have occurred
AZ Piaceu. Cal alBesou sale, QueluienDurg,
Bfnc. near MadgebUrg, Weirmar, Hett-
stade, near Eislaben, and other places in
Germany. Other epidemics Of the same
character have occurred. IN all these
tre flesh Of the dead examined by several
1aicroscOpists was found literally filed
with rrich5ns.
Last summer, before I was 10 Berlin,
q person was operated on by noted sur
econ Of Berlin lLangesbachl for -welled
neck. During the operation the barred
muscles were seen 10 be nlled with the
shells of "cystO or trich-
fna. The patient related, in reply 10 a
question whether he had ever been sick,
that in the wear ISIS, with the other
members Of a commission for the inspec-
ZION Of schools, he ate a meal Of ham,
.Ha AZ a.
who ate Of these provisions were soon
after taken sick, and. except the relat0r,
who was being operated on, died and
judicial investigation poisoning being
suspected was without result
Again. the Captain Of q ship al Nalpa-
raise. from Hamburg, purchased q pig.
II was slaughtered on the first Of April
hv the cook. The crew ate thirty pounds
OF the fresh meat while near Hamburg
most Of the crew fell sick-sOme lightly
some severely, and two died. Ia the
r1nscIes of the dead numerous free living
T-Jcl7ius were found. But these exam
Dles Of trichiBe disease might be multi
rIfad Indefinitely If a piece Of flesh
Containing the triohine be examined CT
aIosaIv scrutiDized by she naked eye, as
ID ssieroseoDists are IN the habit Of doing,
the ovoid. opaque shell inclOsing the
animal can barely be seen ss q yelOEisn
white granule, bat tie animal Itself, as
Il Kes 6oiied within. a semi-trsnsparent
yr0rrs. is not ssen AZ ali in such view,
If the shell De carefully separated how
ever. from the flesh in which IT is I'M
be6ded. placed upon q slip Of glass and
drop of bydrocioFio acid be added me
shell viii dissolve and the animal be-
come plain under magnlfying glass 9I
fifty or sixty diameters.
The trichinB, in order 10 infest the hu-
man BODY must be eaten in meat. and il
is. 30 far ss We nov know, only through
The eating Of pork that they the bu-
mau bodV. But there is no security from
infestatiOn By abstinence from pork, for
she grsmuivoTa are not so perfectly select
in the character Of their food but that
thew may consume flesh Tricbin8 are
found in other animals usually regarded
IS .herbi yorous, as ulOles, etc. and hence
are flesh as vel as grass eaters being 70
this respect like rats ana mice, etc.
Nevertheless the only flesh man con
suues which contains the uicnln5e Is
that Of the pig.
The only security, If pork is eaten with
out satisfactory microscopic eXal4lna-
ton, IL 70 consume only what has Deen
thoroughly boiled. There Is every ground
for believing that every sO-calied case Of
ham-poisoaing was a fatal case Qf trich-
ina disease. Respectfully, etc,