The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1903-07-31
The z! I3I:l:1 : HOOK WORM.
zfrs} ~ 10.
Plans 10 Externinate the .Germ Of
LaSiness" Being Made.

|. ~ a.. s.ai
,5 lL1aziness" Being Made.
THE SOUTHERN STATES ACTING.
viii gr2y to Eradicate the Disease.
Which is Thought to Have
.Esen One ortho Plaques
Of Egypt.
Although it has beeh less than six
monthly since DIR. Charles Wardell
Stiles, chief of the division OF zoology
Of the public health and marine hos.
pital service, officially announced the
discovery Of the hook worm, or germ
Of lazlness." preparations are already
under way In several Southern States
to utilize the discovery In combating
the disease The State board OF health
OF North Carolina, through It's secre-
'tary, DR.. Lewis, of Raleigh, has taken
the lead In the work, and it Is conf
IDENTIFY expected by scientist in Wash
ington that the health officials of that
State soon will make an Important an
nouncement as the, result OF the ex
pertinent they are now conducting.
For Obvious reasons the experiments
are being carefully guarded from pub
licity by the officials both in Washing
ton and in North Carolina, but it is
given out that as soon as satisfactory
results have been obtained they will
be fully exploited in language that the
layman can easily understand.
The disease which results from the
ravageS Of the hookworm is called uni
cinariais by the scientists. In common
parlance 1t is known rs lazincss. APP
parentty the disease mainly is confined
to warm climates, for-it is there that
the hookworm abounds in greatest
numbers. DR.. Stiles thinks it quite
probable, that the ancient Egyptians,
nearly $500 years ago, were acquaint-
ed with the parasites which he has
namedias the hookworm, and whose
habits he is still studying with the en-
thusasm Of aTnovice.
The disease appears to have attained
its most yirulcnt form among the
Egyptians of that period, and was
much more damaging to its victims
shan it is now. However, unless spe-
Ciiic is'found for it there',S seemingly
no reason why in time it should not
have as ruinous effects in the United
States ,as it had in Egypt more than.
1900 years ago.
Study OF the conditions Of the.
most widely infected regions of the
South mainly In Florida, appears to
show that the parasite attacks chill.
drcn ii the rural sections sat very
early age,, u t has been satisfactorily.
dempl.s l.strated THAT children who go
barefG1 ted or permitted to loll around
freely bn;the ground in. summer: time
age ola lssyic it lima OF & the hook
aS6Tan q ID
started it 5thrives marYelo St,.-r.-..::ssadiees
injury of5its victim, actually arresting
the deV Velopment Of certain parts Of the
body and delaying the age Of maturity
to o noticeable extent. When full
growth finally is attained the victim
Is all through life indolent and Shift
less. This accounts for the large num-
Der OF people in the South who are
considered lazy. In point. of fact. they
are lazy, but their laziness Is due to
the presence In the systems Of hook
worms and not to natural indisposi-
tion to work or exert themselves.
In a severe case Of the hookWorm
disease the face is blotted, the shoul-
ders droop, the abdomen is enlarged,
and the arm and legs are thin. It has
been observed that the disease is most
common among the dirt eaters of the
South and among people who live in
the sandy regions of that section. In
deed, DR.. Stiles declares that nearly
every case Of the disease found during
his trips through the South while
studying the subjects was either liv-
ing at the time in a sandy district or
had lived in such a district few years
before. DIR. Stiles also observes that
he would not expect to find the disease
originating in cities, and owns that
they are we'll paved and severed.
Payed streets and grass lawns, he de.
clarcs, do not favor the development
Of the hookworm.
Another interesting discovery he has
made in connection with the ravages
of the germ Of laziness'' is that the
pest Is more active in summer than in
winter. This accounts, in a large
measure. for the apparent increase of
lazlness in hot weather. According to
the testimony OF DR.. Stiles, the symp-
toms of the disease begin to increase
In the spring and decrease in the early
winter. '"The perlodicity," says the
discovery OF the germ of laziness,"
will be noticed, of course, only in To-
calittcs Which are above the frost line,
and 1t Is easily explained when we take
into considerations the biology of the
parasites. It is probably that uin5- sca .
sonal periodlcy Of the symptoms
noticed in our Southern States will be
modified in the tropics, SO that the
symptoms will increase in severity in
the rainy season and decrease in the
dry period Of the year"
One of the most interesting features
Of DR.. Stiles observations is this:
"Uncinariasis, says he in his report
on the subject, occurs in both blondes
and brunettes, and in both the white
and negro races, but, so far as my Oh.
servations go, the disease is more
severe, or at least more noticeable, in
blondes than in brunettcs, and more
severe, as a rule, in the white than in
the negro"
SnnItea I,sC0nc