The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1866-04-21
Mania lriChin:p.

OF all the forms OF insanity known 10 the
psychologist, that species 0! dement,. er-
roneousiy classei with physical diseases un-
Ger the teChDICa. name OF IrIchInlas, Is OF, rs
it shcal5 properly be rendered in lain EHr>
iish, Trichiua Asses, is =. once The mos,
alarm my and ,AA Tost iudicrOus. \ ;Ju-
mi;tee OF scicnt fc men. by the aii Of little
coayeI glasses, discern in q staple article o!
food, that has beea isoi by niar teHths Of the
people Of this country. vi hoat the slightest
symptom Of disturbance to the consumers,
from the hour they were able TO substitute Il
.lri1aceous and animal for a l-c;eal Diet, n
species of minute parasite, entozoor, or hal!
worm, the harmless existence Of which in the
human body has long been known and de-
mOust-ated by our best anatOn.sts. Par
asitcs and animaIcule inhabit the bodies Of
all animals, and there IS scarcely tissue or
organ Of the human body that Is not infested
bv myriad5 of minnie worms or entozoa. -
One species iuhabit the heart, another the
arteriss. aud third the kidneys. The yol-
Untary muscles are ofien literally alive with
microscopic worms that l. cCi.ed up between
the stria;el i5crs, or IN the connecting cell
lular tissue. / mos, terrific looking anima!
Is found swimming about in the hillary ducts,
while any number Ofmaggo;s may be sqseez
eI out o. he little Se5acious cylinders Of the
hair toli.cIes. The brightest eve that ever
shone beneath the loye!iest woman's brow is
but q mass ofliving tisstes, in which hydatid.
propagate and riot. and hi1eous anima.cul;e
wiggle their infnitesimal tails. Indeed. tue
only p.rts Of the human body knOSu to be
entirely tre" from parasitic animals are those
artistic I'll rs of the inferior ex!reni;ies
situated be,.-en the tendon Of Achilles and
the pcplteal space, and lying, with form OF
artificial beauty. outside Of the cuts vera.
The species Trichila Spralis. whose c,>
istence mas been discovered in swine, may
alsC be found in almost every muscle OF the
human body. 1t lies along the M uscul.y
iibres. inclosed in liitle cysIs, or So fs. a. 1
has often been noticed in dssectiug TO Em sub
iec.s, giving a .anded aspect 10 the ri d mus
cular tissue. Prot. Wood of Philadel Phis, in
treating OF these cntozoa, SAYS NO e Eidsr ce
has yet been produced CT any moFb.d in.
huence exerted by the trichIEa upon the
system during l-fe They have been found
in subjec.s carried off by sudden death (acci.
dent) and in the midst of health"
That tri-hn;e exist in the hog. Of this
country. we entertain no doubt; and we are
equally confident that scientific ex amna,
ton Of .29i human bodies in Chicago wou'd d
reveal quite as large a number of trichinous
cases as were found by the committee Of the
Academy of Sciences in the ,39i hoEs subs
mitted 10 the test OF the microscopic The
great practical fact, which cannot be sub
merged By any amount of speculative theor-
izing. Is, that the eating of pork in this
country has never been known 10 result in
any unusual disease, aud that the most heal
thy and robust class of the community is the
agricultural class, who rarely eat any other
kind of animal food. Our soldiers in the
army have consumed millions upon millions
ofpounGS of shoulders and hams, often sliced
up raw, or boiled so that the interior portion
Of the ham was unaffected by the heat; and
yet no case os Trichiniasis has ever vet been
discovered among them. The assertion in
the report Of the committee, that Some oil
the members Of your committee can recall
cases of obscure disease, which have come
to their knowledge in past years, winch may
have been owing to the presence of Trichina,
is very vague aud unsatisfactory. Oar learn
ed and most distinguished medical friends
Will not .e permitted to hide their igd ORANGE
in so small a receptacle as this hypothetical
parasitic cyst. We do not doubt j ut that
many poor patient suffers under pat hologi-
cal afiictipns utterly unknown to his profes.
sional attendant; and we opine tn hht the
cause of death may be looked for Eu the
majority of these cases the ca ides OF
pharmaceutical. and not the geologic dal, de-
partment OF the medical sciences L aicoga
Republican.