Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1870-12-23
THE GAZETTE.
FRIDAY EVENING, DECEMBER %.

A NEW MEDICAL HoRRoR.-The City OF
Elpin. some forty miles west Of Chicago IS
greatly excited by the appearance o. strange
disease 10 that vicinity. The first case known,
which terminated fatally on Friday last' W wa
as follows: On Friday week Mrs Y. W.
Daniels, q lady twenty two years or age, WIZ
was married two years ago AID gave olrtn 10
child eleven months since, was prostrateo oy
what seemed at first to be premonitory sgmp-
TOMS of typhoid fever. She had not been very
we'll for some time previous. but nothing ssrl-
ons vs., anticipated until Sunday, when she
va compelled to take to her bed aud place
herself under medical treatment; She com
p)sined of pains 10 her bones and soreness IN
her flesh. Nothing very unusual, however.
was observed until Sunday morning. when the
milk from her breast attracted attention by Its
dark color, it looking like the wastings OF an
ink bottle. Submitting the milk to micro
scopic examination it was found to contain an
immense number Of animalcul9 different 10 size
and shape from any human parasite of which
the attending physician had ever seen or heard
They seemed to be somewhat hexagonsl 10
form-longer one way than tho other. They
did not seem to have any head, but were evil
IDENTITY alive, Judging from the way in which
they moved about. Their size was estimated
by tho physician as varying from the one hun
III OF an inch in diameter.
The power of the microscope used varied
from $50 to 500 diameters, the former power
being required to make the insects visible
They were not trichinae, as the doctor was we'll
acquainted with the form of that parasitic, and
this new kind was much smaller and of an en-
tirely different shape. Authorities were search.
ed, but none of them gave one by which they
could be identified, and the doctor and
those With whom he consulted were compelled
to believe that they had discovered new
species of human parasite.
In the meantime the patient grew worse
She suffered terribly and complained OF sore
ness all over her body. Nothing was done TO
relieve her. She could not bear bath and
could hardly bear to be touched. She fingered
in agony until the afternoon at I o clock, VIII en-
she died. There was some reason ct first to
believe that the parasites were tho product OF
some disease of the breast aud were confined to
the matter, and anticipating her death, he was
prepared to do 80. Five minutes after life was
extinct and while the body was still warm, he
made 40 incision in the calf of the leg, and,
drawing tho Inject, examined the moisture
which covered it. He found three Of the para
sites, one of which was alive. They were sim
liar in all respects to those found iu the fluid
taken from the breast. He then dissected the
tibmlis arteries and the muscle of the leg, IL
Guiding q small portion of surrounding flesh.
The muscle presented granular appearance, as
if covered with grains of sand The grains the
doctor assumes were parasites. These In
vestiea,ions were conducted by DR.. Clark
assisted by Dr.. Tyrrel, and neither of them
nor any OF tho faculty who have been asked
their opinion are able to explain tho presence
Ct Whist they regard a. practical phenomena