Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1910-02-04
81. 0QQ000TokHL
w. G>A LITTLE
xEM ~WORM

MIR. Rockefeuers gift of 100000 to be used in graduating the hook
When this parasite was found the disooverer stated, E quite correctly rec Eot t% of
the socaled poor white trash"-whereupon he as laughed gu OF C cou nt as IS
germ germ is certainly 10 n' laughing 1pi g' matter. It is not peculiar to the Southern
States, having been found in animals as early as l1S2 lit 1t was was III mrs Is7s +
action in exhaustng the blood from the system was realized. In nau vera
traced to the United States; but it was no until 1902 that the existence n OF
a z zooioslst Connected ~ with the he United states government service The a-
p sarnn ss and 25oh habits of, Of the parasite s' o are 10 mm well Xxx hn &c, hit of of son a du oars
thread" One victim may entertain several thousand If t. these 9t TIM N a, ,Em
through the minute holes that they make in the intestinal walls.
Of unmerted criticism to be heapea 0 the southern cotton ON mills mill - LII Lad" 4I
sometimes look like little children. STRANGERS not knowing tneir r@ of c aS5
and seeing them atw work go away with lurd stories Of he mo horrors G 4l c taIb
with the supposed children: The disease makes them dull Ian. and back nah1e
to answer the simplest questions intenigenty. Perhaps they feel toe mi% ser
anything, and the teachers in the hookworm districts say that if their pupils
remain seated for n length of time they swell up nu worms ne,ong
Ing % a ROT Of round worms known technically Is ucnarnae. Two dill
as the old World hooEworm," the other a the New world nookworm~
and both have been found in the negro. The Old World hookworm is rea
lively tts1u rare III in .t the MI United sdos States ssn where The great 2sa W majS %5go Gt eaIeS is "pn ~s
IS the American murderer" this name having beer given it m acc0On ("
The American hookworm is about oneiourth to or~hnlf al inch long
and about as thick as a small hairpin. 1t has lard rto5ins plates s or Laws LAWS
to aI tbe iBt et el' wn. u In "I its " adult stage the heoovern is found fastened
to the lining membrane Of the small intestine. Formerly it "a thought
that the parasite secured its hold u by means aea s Of heons' ut r o 1t , is st
sucks the blood and produces a poisonous substance Which, hor nn5u1eS nm tn De
according o the amount of infection to which he has been subjected: The
multiply in the intestine, al their eggs require fresh ar in order to develop,
and so for every hookworm found in the intestine a separate germ must
enter the body.
The young worm may entert the body in two different ways. 1t may b.
swallowed in contaminated water or it nay bore Its "a through the skin
Boring through the skin is the or common method Of infection. After
entering the skin, the young worms make their way to tn blood M pass
with the blood through the heart % the lungs. Gradually they find their
way to the small intestine. where they shed their skin, become matur n
then begin their work of injuring the walls of the tntesunes Of sucking
the blood, and of poisoning their victims.
Investigations by DR.. Stiles have convinced him that the hookworm dis
ease las a serious effect upon the mind and prevents children from fully and
properly assimnaing the education which Is offered them. lie says thai as
nearly al be estimated, the physical condition Of the Southern school
children in the rural districts Is such tina they canno s1m1at more tina
70 per cent of the education they receive.
DR.. Stiles is quoted as saying that it will take twenty years., at a cost
Of s10 moo a ear-tha is So 600 OO0-to stamp Out the malady II tn South
m stataes. Much, however, al be done n a short time.
The Rockefeller commission has not yet adopted a program for its scam
phgn against the disease, tut it will probably take u p III measures III
gesteds some time ago by DR.. Stiles, which include an annual public health
week" in the schools, when children will be taught the dangers Of nfec-
ton: housetohouse canvasses in the back country districts by medical su-
dents O vacation to enHghten the natives, lectures by physicians and
nurses in tow halls churches an schoolhouse; the distribution of
pamphlas and other printed matter telling about the disease; an institution
for free diagnosis and treatment, and the passing of laws in the several
States to permit the above measures and to promote the anti
hookworm campaign.
A late dispatch from San Francisco says that hundreds o cases Of hook:
worm have been imported into California in the last few years from Hawaii.
he philippines and the Orient. Almost half of a colony Of West Indian la
borrs who had been working In tn HaWa11an sugar plantations and came
TO the Pacific coast were infected.