The Evansville daily journal. (Evansville, Ind.) 1870-1875, 1870-12-05
Sirange az PaIal nIsense.

Chicago, December 4.-The city of
Elgin, some forty miles west of Chi
cago, is greatly excited by the appear
anee of strange disease in that Vicin-
i:y, the first case known of which
terminated fatally on Friday last. The
facts are as follows: On Friday week
Mrs. q. w. Daniels, lady, twenty two
years Of g sgs.who was married two years
ago and gave birth to a child eleven
months since. was prostrated by what
seemed at first to be premonitory
symptoms of the typhoid fever. She
had not been very we'll for some time
previous, but nothing serious was an
ticipated until Sunday, when she was
compelled to take TO her bed and
place herself under medical treatment.
She complained of pains in her
bones and soreness In her flesh.
Nothing very unusual, however, was
observed until Sunday morning when
the milk from her breast attracted at
tention by its dark color, it looking
like the washing of an ink bottle.
Submitting the milk to a microscopic
examination, it was found to
contain immense numbers of
animaleule, different in size
a1d shape from any human parasite
Of whicn the attending physician had
ever seen or heard. They seemed to
be hexagonai in form, longer one way
than the other. They did not seem
to have any head, but were evidently
alive, judging from the way they
moved about. Their size was esti-
mated by the Doctor as varying from
the one hundred thousandth TO the
FIVE hundred thousandth of an inch
IN diameter. The power Of the mi
croscope used varied in size from
$50 to 800 diameters, the former pow
er being required to make the insect
visible. They we're not traohinay as
the doctor was well acquainted with
that form of parasite, and this new
kind was much smaller and of an en-
tirely different shape. Authorities
were seached, but none of them gave
any clue by which they could be
identified, and the doctor and those
with whom be consulted were i'm
pelied to believe that they had dis
covered new species of the human
parasite in the meantime. The pa
tient grew worse. She suffered terri
bly,, and complained Of soreness all
over her body. Nothing could be
done to relieve her. She could not
bear bath and could hardl5 bear to
be touched. She fingered in agony
until one o'clock P NJ. when she died.
There was some reason at first to be-
lieve that the parasites were the pro-
duct of some disease of the breast, and
were confined to that locality. The
Doctor determined to test the matter,
and anticipating her death he was
prepared to do so. Five minutes after
life was extinct, and while the body
was still warm he made an incision
10 the calf of the leg and drawing the
lancet AMI examining the moisture
which covered 1t, he found three of
the parasites, only one of which was
alive. They were similar TO those
IN the fluid taken from the br 1st. He
then dissected the arteries ald mus
cles of the leg. including a small por-
ton of the surrounding
flesh. The muscles presented
granular appearance, as if
covered with grains Of sand. These
grains, the Doctor presumes, we're par
asites. The investigations were con-
Quoted by DR.. Clark, assisted by DIR.
Tyrreil, aud neither of them, nor any
of the faculty, who have been asked
their opinion, are able to explain
the presence of what they regard
as parasitical phenomena. Further
examination of the muscle will be
made, and it is expected that some
light will be shed upon what IL now 3
mystery. The physicians think that
the parasites hastened death, if they
were not the immediate cause, while
some Of the symptoms of typhoid re-
NAMED to the end they were aggravat-
ed. The pains and soreness and throb-
bing, and especially death, came
sooner and more suddenly than in
cases of unmistakable typhoid. The
baby had been piuing some time before
his mother took sick, but as soon
as he was weaned he recovered his
health, and IS now more robust than
ever. Fe was not Weaned until his
mother was confined to her bed. The
Doctor reports that be examined the
chilos blood, which was perfectly
healthy