The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-06-13

(Conffnued From Page Fiye)
 inf direct contact with the larvae. A Knowledge of the life history of the worm
 is essential for the proper understand ing of the measures provided against the further spread of hookworm disease. The female worms in the intestine de- posit an enormous number of eggs which are passed out in the human feces.
 If the feces are deposited in the soil in a mine where the eggs find suitable conditions of moisture and temperature, the larvae are soon matched. grow rapidly for @ week or two, shed their skin twice, and then pass into a torpid state, ceas- ing to eat or grow. If these larvae come in contact with the skin of a person they arc capable of penetrating it and upon reaching the veins are carried to the I lungs; here they push themselves through 1 the delicate structures, and crawl up fhe | windpipe to the throat and down the oesophagus and thus reach the intestine. to which they attach themselves, develop
 into adult hookworms, and give rise to the
 symptoms above mentioned. 1 his is the
 most common manner of hookworm infec- ton That infection may take place di- rectly through the mouth, and through contamination of food and drink, has also been demonstrated.
 Hookworm Among Miners
 "Hookworm disease is a definite disease of miners and underground workers and among this class Is often known as miners anemia.' Attention was first directed to 1t as a miners disease in 1873, when serious epidemic of anemia ap- peared among workmen engaged in driv- i ing the St Gothard tunnel through the | Alps mountains in Switzerland, which was found to be due to hookworm infec- disease had | been found to be alarmingly prevalent | among the miners of other countries and | it was at first supposed that the St. | Gothard tunnel workers carried the dis ease to the coal mines of Hungary and from there to Germany, France and Bel gium. It is probable. however. that the | disease prevailed among colliers of north ] ern France and Belgium long before 1879 ''The disease has been prevalent in cer- l tain mines of Cornwall, England, South | Africa, and in this country, in the coal | mines of West Virginia and North Caro- l lima, and in the gold mines of California anu Nevada 1 searched for evidence of
 hcokworm disease among the metal and 1 coal miners of Colorado, but found none Only rare instances of it's presence among | the miners of Pennsylvania have as yet
 been detected. It's presence in other coal mining states has not been reported, but
 where the conditions of the soil are fa- vorable for the development of the larva$ | it's presence may be strongly suspected | through importation of miners from ln- 1 fected localities.
 "Of course. the disease can not occur spontaneously and will not develop Tn any mine unless it is introduced by some | infected person. One such man. if he is
 careless in his habits and polutes the
 mine with his feces might cause wide spread epidemic of disease among his fel-
 low workmen.'
 Results From Mosquito Bites | Continuing Dr. Hotchkiss said:
 | "When mosquito bites person. il
 sucks some of these parasites from the blood The parasites or germs develop in
 the stomach of the mosquito and finally reach the salivary glands of the female l When this infected mosquito bites a per | son. 1t injects some of the saliva con | taining germs Into the wound to keep the blood from clotting. The germs reach | this persons blood, develop in the red
 blood cells, and he has malarial infection Sometimes the person bitten may carry | germs in his blood long time before tho symptoms of the disease are noticed. Per.
 sons carry these germs in their blood over l winter and in this way new lots of mos ouitoes are infected every spring which infect other persons, and so the disease 1 continues year after year. "The prevention of this disease de bends on, CD keeping people from be- Ling bitten by mosquitoes, (2) keeping malaria patients screened to prevent
 mosquitoes from biting them. and (s) killing mosquitoes or preventing then | from growing. This kind of mosquito
 breeds hest in natural accumulations ol water like stagnant ponds and swamps which should be drained or covered with oil whenever possible.
 "Mine sanitation Is important If oui
 coal mtnes and camps were kept ir | sanitary condition, coal mining would be one of the most healthy of occupa 1 tions. The coal mining industry has nc dust inhalation problems to contend i with. as is the case with metalliferou. :, mines. where the death rate among tho metal miners from lung disease is ex- i cessively high. and is chiefly due tt inhalation of stone dust. Statistics iron | many parts of the world show tha the death rate from lung disease amoni coal miners is very low. even lower thai \ lamong other persons living in the sam' communities Some persons even stat
 that coal dust is preventive of tuber culosis. Leaving that question out Q