The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1867-04-13
.mATs1I'QC
Facts for Pork Eaters.

who died lately in Springfield, found
trichina in it, and thus describes the
parasite and the disease it produces,
Istrichiniasis: - r.
f The disease known as trichinlasis IS
caused by the presence OF "a minute
| parasite infesting the voluntary mus
cles. The name of this animal is
trichina spiralis, and 10 Its. popular
acceptation may be called minute
worm. somewhat like the common
vinegar eel. This animal was first
| made known to the world by Prof
Richard Owen, of the British Mur
seum. London, in 1885, and has been
subsequently studied infinitely by
Drs. Bowditch and Wyman, of Bos-l
ton, and DIR. Dalton, of New York.
The animals which the trichina most
commonly infest are man and the
common hog, though it has been
fouhd@in other domestic animals. 1t
u.s. however, most commonly intro
duced into the human system by using
some preparation of pork as an article
of food 1t probably can only be in
troduced through the. intestines, and
not by the skin. boz
Its .tenacity. of life, like that of
some Of The lower animals, is not "a
little remarkable, since it withstands
a great amount of heat. 1t readily
withstands heat to the amount of 169
deg. Fahrenheit, and is not killed by
temperature of 13 deg. below zero
Various chemical substances, even
those which partially decompose the
muscle, including common salt, are
not injurious to it, and smoking of
hams does not destroy it. Trichinia-
sis has never prevailed extensively in
this country, but has been well known
in northern Germany and Prussia,
and somewhat in France. And in
those countries where sausages and
hams are common articles OF diet,
and especially when eaten uncOoked,
this disease is we'll known. So that it
is safe to say that if a person will eat
ham, sausages or any portion of the
meat of the hog in raw, or partially
cooked condition. he runs a great risk
of inficting upon himself this very
uncomfortable disease. bar
The trichina. when it, arrives at its
adult or perfect state, surrounds itself
with a cyst or sac, in which it remains
indefinitely, when, if chance favors its
entrance into the stomach of another
animaL it commences anew its cycle
I'of development, otherwise it perishes.
1t is necessary, then, for the develop
ment of the trichina, that it be in
gested into the stomach of another
L animal, from which it bores through
the stomach and bowels, and ulti-
matelys reaches its destination, the
muscles of the body. Each trichina
is capable of producing from four
the trichinous food has been eaten, in
the course of week the young are
Matched and commence seeking their
habitat" in the muscles.
AS already mentioned, these ami
mails, when in their perfect state, be-
come encysted or lodged in little
bladder. If they pass to this condi-
ton without destroying the individual
in whom they live, the :: host may
recover from the disease. In the case
! of Miss Ida Hall none of them, so
far as ascertained, had passed to this
stage of the disease, hut had destroyed
her life in the earlier stages of it.
Some authors state that as many as
seventy-tw two hundred trichin8 have
been discovered in the space Of a
square inch one fftieth of an inch
| thick. But probably in this case
from Springfield the number scarcely
exceeded one-half that number.
irhere are two stages of this disease
when it runs a regular course. First,
one of intense pain in the stomach
and bowels, and second, that of mus
cular irritation. The first is probably
owing to the passage of the parasite
upon and through the coats of the in
! testine, and the latter due to the YER
micular motion through fbres Of the
muscles
. In the first stage, within a week or
ten days after the ingestion of the
food, the symptoms may be very much
like. those of cholerine, There is pain
I sickness of the stomach. vomiting,
diarrhea, fetid breath, heartburn, etc..
or the symptoms like severe collie or
bowel difficulty In the second stage
there is a swelling or puffness of. the
face, especially about the eyes, and
sometimes it extends to the throat and
vocal passages, so that it produces a
hoarseness of the voice. A great fe-
yer heat RACES. and the pulse is &C
! celebrated to 1874 and respiration from
30 to &c. Violent Precipitation is also
a symptom of this stage; but the most
4 marked features are seen in the mus
Giles, which become swollen, hard and
painful, the patient suffering agon,
upon any pressure or attempt to move
| the limbs, and lying generally upor
the back. Death may occur from pa.
ralysis or typhodial symptoms.