The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-05-11

with the noIlI1lSS1Ou III IN
DIR stiles examined twenty OF them,
findinp hoOkwOrm infection IN every
ona The OYerseer then remarked tndt
there was no use in examining the
others. as they were all i'll the same
condition.
From this plantation he drove 20
several other farms. then to the locat
scchoo, house. where a glance sufHceo
to show that at least twelve out OF
the twenty-five pupils were lnfecteu.
THAT was enough says Or. Stiles:
Z returned to my hotter IN the NOS.
excited state of mind. and Tor three
DAYS / could hardly eat or sleep.
And no wonder. He had not only
nroyed his theory, but he had
stumbled upon the root OF the troupls
| with. a class which has long peen 4
! drag and a burden upon the grown
Of the South.
F.om The point where the discovery
was made, he Travelled on down to
Florida. examining hundreds Of hook
| work sufferers and acQualntlng NM
| self with every detail Of the disease.
| Since then il has been proved that
the "foot-itch,' or
..dew-itch." so common to the poor
! whites. is due to the fact that in most
cases hookvorm infection takes place
through the skin Of the foot. The en-
bl yOnic parasites SWarm1ng IN tne
soil of the sandy barrens and pine
VICIOUS. boiS ILL odSh l1S IL VI A1io
bare feet of the inhabitants, and. cir
culating in the blood, finally make
their way to the intestines. Here they
attach themselves, by the MOUTHS, to
the mucous membrane and suck the
blood Of their victim, at the same time
poisoning him with their waste pro-
ducts. PcSt-mOrtemS have shown tina.
they wound the intestinal wall not
once but many times, as they move
from one feeding point to another,
+L,,, prnI11.in o. n Go,1Y1ho DaC from
which the victim loses blood. in addl-
ton to what is taken from him d1-
rectiy by the parasite. In healing,
these wounds rOduc scars which Sc.
riouSly Interfere with intestinal ac>
ticn.
The parasites deposit thousands of
eggs which, since they require oxygen
for their development cannot mature
within the human body. II when pass
ed from the body they are exposed to
sun or dry air they soon die; but If
they find a Judgment in loose. warm,
damp earth. in a drop of dew or in
water that is not too cold, they quickly
grow to the injecting stage.
The loose. warm soil and the damp
shade of the sandy pine-lands offer
Just the proper conditions for the de-
Velopment Of hOokwOrm eggs-prOvid-I
ing eggs G"e put mo it. And thev
are. Being too poor to afford luNurieS
the people 90 not, as a rule, provide
even so primitive an arrangement as
the common nriNy for the reception of
their body waste, but deposit it pro-
Observation-Disclosures or not. and il is
nearly ALWAYS Observation-Disclosures they
EaIpen to he.
Furthermore, shoes being also in
the mature Of an extravaganza in the
warm climate many of the people,
young and old, male and female-gO
d large part of the time-and
during the very season
when infection is most likely to take
place. In the light of these facts, DR..
Stiles declares that the wonder is. not
that SO many people are infected, but
a single one escapes.
And, in truth, there are few indeed
non the poorer white farmers who
escape. In almost all the families
examined by DR.. Stiles, most Of the
showed symptoms of the dis
ease. On one farm in Florida he found
a mother, father, and five children in
an advanced stage. and fifteen chill
ren's graves in the lot back of the
house. When he inquired of the local
physician had killed these child
rem, he received this reply:
Il don't know what you'd call it. but
# YOU can tell me what is killing that
sirI there pointing to a pitifully
little mite, who was charged
being a "dirteater"-'IW tell YOU
what was the matter with the others"
DR.. stiles estimated that about 6S
cent OF the farms were polluted,
md that at least 20 per cent of the
poorer white population of the South
was suffering from hookWorm disease.
IN some districts. he found that the
proportion Of victims rose as high as
% per cent of the adults and so per
cent Of the children.
And here is a significant fact for
ne contemplation of child labor COM
As early as 1909. DR.. Stiles
leclared n as a result of the most
'afnstakjng examinations. he had been {.
nhan'e 10 escape the conclusion that
ne dWarted stature and anaemic con-
,it"n OF the children is
I've not SO much to the wills of mill
'crS aT to hOOkWOrm infection CON [
,Facted before going to the mill. On {
ter present conditions. he says, mill