The Washington herald., 1911-01-08
DOUBTS ABOUT
THE STING OF
THB HOOKWORM

That the evil effects Of the hookworm
are exaggerated and that the results at
tributed to its presence in the human
body are in reality due to other causes
il asserted by Dr.. F. Julian Carroll or
summerville, 8. c.. in an article con-
tributed to the Journal of the South
Carolina Medical Association (October).
DR.. Carroll does not deny the fact
that the worm Is parasitic In large
numbers of persons in the South. out ne
maintains that his contentious are never
theless true. 1t may well be, he says
that, as claimed by one writer, 30 per
cent Of the Inhabitants Of certain sec
ton are victims Of the parasite, and yet
it may not be the cause Of serious
malady. DIR. Carroll protests against the
view that pictures the inhabitants or
the South as spending their time alter
nately swinging on an ''ague post In an
effort Ito keep the chills from shaking
their paw-teeth loose" and sitting. In
the sun. seeking to warm and nourtsh a
very PROSPEROUS and inSatiate colony OF
hookworms." He writes:
IAN experiment which personally con-
Quoted some seven or eight years ago.
among a class Of people known as Crack
ers. showed an infection Of every case
rounding country. and though the benefit
was for a time apparent, / am not at all
sure that it was not largely due to the
tonic treatment which was given after
the vermifuge had been administered;
and once the treatment stopped, SO like
wise did the improvement.
Not Caused by Hookworm.
From these cited facts it seems only
fair to deduce that the hookworm in a
healthy person who is well fed and nour-
ished does not produce serious illness.
nor often symptoms of any kind: and
the line Of symptoms usually laid at the
door Of this parasite are not all. or even
largely. attributed to this cause. as is
clearly shown by the lack of symptoms
in the college students examined.
I do believe that when, in addition to
the various ills of poverty. impure or in
sufficient food. unhygienic modes Of liv-
ing and malarial cachexia We
engraft a hookworm infection, We have
furnished the straw which is calculated
to break the camers back; but we must
not infer from this that the straw is the
whole load. We should not attribute to
the hookworm the causation of a whole
string of evils of which it is really only
the elimination.
If, as is commonly asserted. the hook
worm, and not climatic conditions, is the
cause Of the alleged laZiness Of South
erners. why is it that the large number
of young men of the South who annually
go to New York and other Northern cities
give no evidence of this affection? I think
that it has never been asserted that
change of climate rids one of these vo-
racious destroyers of energy.
No Isolated Cases.
af ho Uni nf
ginia, show any sluggishness in the Olym-
plan games? Were the famous family Of
Greenways ever accused of being lacking
in either nerve or energy? Rudolph SeiS-
ling, the captain of last years eleven at
Princeton. was about as husky a 22O-
pound tackle as they generally turn out.
And these are by no means isolated cases.
For the size of the colleges and the
amount of material at their disposal. and
considering their lack of money and con-
seduent absence of Skillful training, the
football and athletic teams generally OF
our Southern colleges compare most IA
vorably with the big teams Of the North.
And bear in mind. please. that a team Of
Southern athletes is probably feeding
large and variegated assortment Of hook
worms.
And yet the pitiful cry has gone forth
and a certain rich man. out of his abun-
dance, has given us one Of the crumbs
that fall from his table, in the shape Of
million bits of gold.
Now. il this million is wisely used in
improving the condition Of the class of
people for whom it was intended, and not
spent in making the whole population of
the South receptacles for excessive
amounts of thymol, much good can be
done. Otherwise il will prove mere
temporary eXpedient.
"As long as we have dirt and poverty.
with the accompanying sesualor and lack
Of proper hygiene and food, We can do
little Of a permanent nature for the relief
of the class of people among whom the
hookworm plays the greatest havoc"