The Nashville globe. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1906-193?, 1909-10-01
THE VAMPIRE OF THE SOUTH
THE HooKWoRM.
(McClure's Magazine fer October)

about the outskirts of Goldsboro,
North Carolina, came upon man, a
mere skeleton, CHASTITY pale, cingiHg
to a post to keep himself from falling.
The doctor stopped and asked what
was the matter. After a pause, dur
ing which he seemed to be trying to
get up strength to reply, the man
said, Il got no blood in me. The
doctor looked at him with unusual in
terest Not that crackers" and poor
whites" were anything new to him.
he had seen hundreds of them among
the rural population of North Caro-
lima; but the explanation of their pc
culiar anemia had only just been pub
lished, and the doctor, as he stood |
there, was asking himself If that eX-
PLANTATION could be true He ques-
toned the man as to what he was do |
ing for his trouble. After another
long pause the man said: I'm goin'
to the blacksmiths-to git some iron
filings; put 'em in vinegar; drink 1t
to bring my blood back. This is
one of the common remedies among
the people; another is to put an ak
under the bed of sick person TO
cut off the pain
Every one Who lives in the South
or has travelled there knows the
Crackers" "sandhillers, !" barren
ites," of whom able-bodied darkies ia
cetiously sing, I'D rathah be mig
gah than po white trash" Feeble
slow-moving creatures, most of them,
some emaciated, some bloated with
dropsy, you recognize them at once
by their lusterless eye and a peculiar
paTor-"the Florida complexion;
their skin is like tallow, and you seem
to be looking through transparent
upper layer into an ashy or SAFFRON
LAYER beneath it. If you speak to one
of these saffron-hued natives, espe'
cially to one of the children, you are
generally met by very curious, hsh
eyed stare without CLEAN of int
ligence back of it, and you wait long
before you get a reply. The reply
when it does come, is very likely
repetition of your own words, and you
go off saying Stupid to yourself.
How the Parasite Got Its Name.
Ten years ago even the foremost
physicians did not know that the
anemia of the South was caused by
the hookworm; but to-day, thank
largely to the tireless efforts OF one
man-Charles Wardell Stiles-the
whole medical profession and many
of the laity are awake to the vital Is
sues of the problem and are prepar-
ing a crusade that shall reach from
the worst regions of the barrens
where nearly the whole population
is suffering, to the farthest "coVe" in
the mountains and STAMP ont the dis
ease.
The discovery of the hoekworm it.
self is not recent. IN 1872 Goeze,
German clergyman and zoologist
found a small, hair-like parasite IN
the intestine of badger he was dis
secting. which he called der Harrund-
wurm (the hair-round worm, men
tioning in his published description
some finger-like rays in the membra'
nous expansion Of the tail that he sup
posed to be hooks; and seven years
later Froelich, another German zool
ogist, found a similar parasite in the
intestine of a fox Observing the
"hooks" spoken of by Goeze, and still
supposing them to be such, Froelich
adopted the vernacUlar word, Haak-
enwurm (hookworm), and gave the
generic name Uncinaria (from unci
nus. a hook to the genus he es-
tablished. Thus the parasite get its
name. AS matter of fact, the
"hooks" are not hooks at all, but sup
ports, somewhat resembling umbrella
ribs, for the fiared tail membrane, or
bursa, of the male. However the
name clung for two other reasons:
the head Of the worm bends conspic
uously backward, making hook of
the worm itself; and within the mouth
cavity of the European species, An
! chylostoma duodenale, lie four sharp,
chitinous hooks by which the parasite
fastens itself to the intestine.
The Cure Simple and Cheap.
In light infections, microscopical ex-
animation is the only known test; but
with moderate and severe cases other
symptoms are so clearly marked that
the case is usually diagnosed and
treated without it. AS one doctor
told me, 81 look at their color, dose
em with thymol, and diagnose it aft
erward Never known to fall" The
color-that is, the pallor-often ex-
tends to the gums, which become as
white as chalk or paper. The lip