Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1882-12-08
A HORRIBLE INFECTION.


Three Hundred and Eighty
Screw Worms Extracted From
. WOman's Nose.
Chicago Times Special.
ALTON, ILL.,, December IA hor.
rlble case OF sufferitg from a rare
affection has come to the notice Of
your correspondent. A young phvsi-
clan at B~ostsrburg, in this county, was
recently called to attend a patient who
was afflicted in a singular and terrible
manner. The sufferer. a young Ger
woman, aged % years, had been
troubled for some time with chronic
catarrh, which had become very oiFen.
sive. A large fly, resembling the
blue bottle fly, attracted by the char
acter OF her disease, had, while she
was asleep in the daytime, deposited
Its eggs or larvae within her nostrils,
Inc result was soon apparent. Her
nose and face swelled TO an enor.
nous size, and she suffered intens.
pain. When the doctor vas called
In, large worms, three fourths of an
inch long, had commenced 10 dron
from her nostrils They were of the
variety known as screw worms"
from their'resemblance to a screw and
manner OF burrowing, Their move
ments could be distinctly traced under
the skin below the eyes and in the
forehead. The doctor placed the
woman under the influence of opiates.
and succeeded in extracting the in.
truders to the number of eighty with.
out making use OF tie knife. although
some OF the WORMS bored their wav
out through the tissues The case was
sklliully treated, and after the worms
mad been expelled the woman rapidly
recovered. When conyalescent and
able TO walk about the house. another
ny OF the same species suddenly stung
the patient within the nostrils The
intruder was almost instantly expell.
ed, and It was hoped no harm had besn
done, but in three or four DAYS the old
symptoms again manifested them
selves and much more seriously than
before. A physician at Alton who
had successfully treated a similar case
several years before was this time
called m to assist the doctor who had
previously treated the case. Ii was
found necessary to use the knife, and
lnclslons we're made in the sides and
across the bridge of the nose, and over
three hundred screw worms were ex
tracted. In a few days the patient
recovered aud is now in good health,
but her nose is, Of course, dis6gured
BY the operation. The patient was in
great agony before the worms were
extracted, their borrowings under the
skin being overwhelmingly painful.
Both physicians placed large num-
bers OF the worms in earth, under
glass, and succeeded in Matching ont
a quantity OF flies, which, as has been
stated, resembled blue bottled fiies,
They have many of the worms and
HES preserved in alcohol. The worms
we're very tenacious of life, resisting
for some time the action Of powerful
acids and seeming rather to epioy. for
a time, a bath in diluted alcohol.
None Of them was less than three.
fourths Of an inch long. and, perhaps.
one eighth of an inch wide.
A we'll known physician at Collins
vile, In this county, treated a Young
man affected in the same fearful
manner about a year ago. In this
case, when the doctor was called IN
the patients brain had become afeoteJ
and he could not recover, A nhvs;.
cian in Texas, writing to the Amer.
lean Entomologist, reports several
cases OF tho same kind in that State.
One lady had several hundred screw
worms extracted from her nose, an.
other, patient, a Mexican boy, over
two hundred from nose and head:
another, a little girl, over two hundred
and fifty from the nose end throat,
Those three all recovered, bnt an I'm.
known German was found, September
24th, in an clubhouse, afflicted with
screw worms in hands, feet and tie
root o fthe spine, and his case proved
fatal.
The flies are evidently attracted hy
the presence Of fetid matter. and Law
their eggs therin, which fecundate
with astonishing rapidly. The Texas
newspapers also report great rayages
OF these screw worms among cattle
and hogs. The insects lay their eggs
In the nostrils of the animals. or
within wounds or lacerated places.
They also infeqt the siaughterpens and
mestmarkets of Texas, the larv@
piercing the meat and filing il Win
WorMs w
Dr, bcmbeTt sent some specimens
OF .ile worms and flies obtained from
the Fosterburg patient to tho Smith.
sonian Institution and 0 V. Riley.
Chiefof the Bureau Of Entomology
10 acknowledges their receipt. said he
bad not before heard Of the presep 90
Of this fly so far North. The tbres
cases occurring in this u n Of
human beings affected in this terribie
manner show that the screw worm d
not confined to the South. The
worms, upon falling to the ground
from tho nOstrils Of human beings or
animals. instantly bury themselves in
the earth and come forth in a few
Gays full grown HES. The inheritance
OF destroying the larye at once. when
their presence is discovered, Is thus
evident,
LADY, render your skin white with
Gienn's sulphur Soap.
Pixies TOOthache DrOps cure in