The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1885-01-01
THE HUMAN BLOOD WORM.

of Cobbold-Filaria sanguinis hominis
of some authors-is second only to the
dreaded Trichina spiralis in its inter-
est, producing as it does long list of
diseases in the human system, some OF
which frequently prove fatal.
The male worm is unknown; the
fem ale presents the following charac-
tiers: Body hair-like, smooth, and of
uniform thickness. The head is fur
ished with circular mouth without
papille. The neck is narrow, and the
tail blunt. The reproductive outlet
is situated close to the head, and the
anus just above the extreme tip'of the
tail. Length, three inches. The embryos
attain length of one two-hundredths
inch, and the ova measure about one
one-thousandth inch from pole to pole.
The embryo form of the blood filaria
was first discovered by Waucherer in
Bahia, in 1866, in chylous urine from
female patient in the Misericordia Hos
pital there; and six years later Lewis
found the embryos in human blood, as
well as in chylous urine, and in several
organs of the body, notably the kid
neys. As an instance of the enormous
numbers of this parasite which some
! times infest the human body, the latter
author calculated in one case that 140,-
600 fiIariae were present in the blood
of single unfortunate patient.
The habitat of the adult parasite
| above described is the alimentary tract
of man. Here formulation takes place,
and, finally, scores of embryoS of a
worm-like form, and measuring one
two-hundredths inch in length, are
extruded from the reproductive out
let of the female. These make
their way into the blood, and there
produce some or all of the following
list of symptoms Chyluria, bloody
urine (hamaturia), wandering muscu-
lar pains, elephantiasis-a very COM
mon symptom, occurring in more than
one-half of all cases-leprosy, and vari-
Gus forms of Emphatic abscess, ane-
mia, and general i'll health, ending fire.
qUently in complete destruction of the
vital powers and death.
The Filaria Bancroft has been found
in Egypt, Australia, China, India, and
South America, and doubtfully in sew
eral European countries, and in the
Southern United States; certainly, of
the ready possibility of the disease be-
ing introduced into any temperate or
tropical climate there can be no doubt.
In Bahia and in Brazil generally the
blood filaria is especially common, 1-3
per cent. Of the entire population of
Bahia, it has been calculated, at some
period of their lives harboring this par
asite.
Nothing could bemore interesting than
the mode of propagation of this species
of filaria. 1t is well known that the
class of entozoa generally must go
through at least one stage of their
metamOrphoses outside the body of
their host, frequently within the body
of another animal, and at first sight
it is difficult to imagine how this can
take place in the case of parasite
which inhabits human blood; but the
subject has been entirely cleared up by
the laborious Investigations of Manson,
Lewis, Cobbold, and others. The
female mosquito, after gorging itself
with blood, repairs to some pool of
stagnant water, there to digest its
meal, and finally deposit its eggs.
Should the victim of the mosquito have
been person whose blood contained
tilari@, these parasites are sucked into
the digestive tract of the insect, and
during the period while its sanguinary
meal is being digested the embryos
there undergo marked changes, finally
developing a four-lipped mouth, and
becoming cylindrical in shape, with an
abrupt, sharply-pointed tail. When
they have attained the proper stage of
development they abandon their insect
host and take up their abode in the
stagnant water. Should a single pair
of these microscopic Larvae be
introduced into the digestive tract of
man through drinking water contain
ing them, or by eating water plants to
which they had adhered, they rapidly
develop into mature specimens of Fila
ria Bancroft, and, formulation having
| taken place, new brood of embryoS
are produced to populate the blood,
| cause the diseases above mentioned,
| and form new center of this hideous
disease.
! As the parasite under discussion can
only be propagated through the agency
| of the mosquito or nearly allied blood
sucking insects, it is evident that if the
race of mosquitoes were eXterminated
blood flaria disease would very soon
cease to exist; but such a proposition
needs only to be stated to show its alb
surdity, and the only practicable meth
cd of preventing the disease is to avoid
taking the larvae into the stomach, by
the use of only carefully filtered water
except, of course, where a spring of
pure water is the immediate source of
supply-or of that which has been
raised to the boiling point before being
used for drinking or culinary purposes;
a temperature considerably below 212
degrees being absolutely fatal to this
worm in all its stages of development.
The treatment of blood filaria disease
is exceedingly unsatisfactory, no known
mode of procedure having any great
influence over the progress Of the dis
ease; decoction of mangroye bark is a
tropical remedy of great repute; gallo
acid has been used with asserted bene-
fit by European practitioners. For
tnnately, however, the symptoms APP
pear to be to some extent self-limiting.
! The percentage of deaths in case of
blood filaria disease, calculating from