The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1875-12-18
TENIA AND RAW MEAT.

Seventy years ago tania (tapeworm)
was such a rare affection in France that
many physicians of large experience had
not met with it; or if they had, the cases
were extremely few. To-day tania has
become so common that every practitioner
meets several or many cases yearly. To
what is due this sudden multiplication of
tenie 1t is twenty or twenty-five years
since Trousseau first, and many physicians
after him, and more recently Professor
Fuster, began to employ raw meat as a
remedial agent: and it was at first received
with distrust, but at present it has become
of general use. This coincidence alone
permits us to suppose that raw meat may
have something to do with the production
of tania, and most physicians have adopted
this etiology, which appears absolutely
certain. Beef frequently contains the
germ of tania, which germ, transported
into the stomach of man, developes TAX
ing the form of the tapeworm. In Abys-
sinia, where the use of raw meat is general,
every one has tania. At St. Petersburg,
DR.. Weisse observed, according to Cauvet,
that children fed upon raw meat were fire.
quently attacked by tenia.
For my part, I have observed a great
number of cases of tRnia during the past
few years, and in every case the individual
had made use of raw meat or was at the
time under that regimen. In a convent l
recently administered raw meat to four
nuns, three of whom were seized with
tania afterward.
M. Laborde Tribune Medicale, page 472)
does not believe that raw meat is the cause
of the increased production of the worm
Each of the three varieties of tienia which
are found in man. says he, 'argues its
origin in an absolute manner. The tenia
solium results from the transformation of
the cysttcercus eellulosy of pork. The both
r,ocephale tnnia is produced by fish. The
tania mediocaneHe is the only one that can
be communicated by beef or mutton, and
we all know how rare the tpnia mediocaneHe
is There is precisely where the error
lies. The tenia nsediocanelk is not rare;
on the contrary, it is at least as frequent in
our time as the tenia solium; and it is
readily recognized by simple magnifying
glass. If NJ. Laborde were to examine the
tenia that follows the ingestion of raw
meat, he would see that the tania medtoca-
nellie has become very common in France
from our new therapeutical habits while
the frequency of the occurrence of tania
solium has not increased for pork meat
slightly cooked or raw remains exceptional
Thus we see that it is beef or mutton which
furnishes these frequent cases of tania
Have we any means of doing away with
this terrible inconvenience
1t is at least probable, if not certain,
that the addition of alcohol to raw meat,
following the method of Fuster, of Mont
pellier, sutficcs to kill the germ. For that,
the alcohol employed must needs be strong,
and the meat should be we'll mixed with
that liquid and allowed to macerate for
some time. Thanks to heaven, the moment
tania becomes frequent, n,ateria medica
euIiCueS iIseil Will Iue kuOWleuRe OF
new tanifuge, at least as efficacious as any
other, and superior, inasmuch as it is abso-
lutely innocuous, and that it's abundance
and low price place it within the reach of
every purse. Freely administered pump
kin seeds constitute sure and inoffepsive
tenifuge, that seldom misses its effect
Some precautions are necessary in the
employment of this medicine.
LIST. The intestine is previously emptied
by recommending the patient to abstain
from eating on the eve Of the day on which
he proposes to take the remedy.
ed. Early in the morning we administer
on an empty stomach GO grammes Il OF.
Z drachms) of pumpkin seeds, deprived of
the skins and ground with sugar, then
mixed with water, forming sort of milk
of almonds.
Sd. When the patient feels the worm
detaching itself, we administer 20 grammes
q o., 125 grains) of castor oil in a cup of
hot broth or black coffee, and the worm,
in all probability, will come away during
the day.
If the head of the worm is not found,