Carroll County democrat. (Huntingdon, Tenn.) 188?-1971, 1913-10-24

IlINSAhJ n spread than any other
sSf-7 tropical disease, with
I'LL TN il the possible exception
H. A..-J of malaria The trou-
BILE Is brought about by A3
the presence in large numbers Of a tI N|
certain round worm. ancylostoma duo 4:
denale, In the human alTnentary canal. N#sW
According to Castellani and Chalmers, INV
the disease is believed to have been W
known to the ancient Egyptians un- ~
der the term "heltp' which is men N
toned in the Ebers papyrus written
some one thousand five hundred an -
nifty years B. c. In the papyrus the
disease was called AAA, and certain
remedies we're suggested. Another an
Gent reference occurs in the Sanscrit
Harita Samhita where it is recorded T 6t1Ss =
that the trouble was due to swallowing bl15otjvJ
clay. But whatever the ancients knew
about the ancylostoma soon disappeared from the
stock OF common knowledge and 1t was only in
1893 that Dubini rediscovered the worm which is
responsible for such widespread distress. Some
years later Griesinger associated the presence Of
the worm with profound anaemia in Egypt Later
on it was discovered to be the cause Of tropical
anaemia in Brazil. But 1t was not till the boring
OF the St Gothard tunnel in the early eighties that
the disease attracted general attention among the
medical men of Europe. The Italian excavators
suffered SO much from this parasite that ncreas-
ing interest was taken in it. and now for the first
time in modern medical history, it was recognized
as causing dangerous and not infrequently a ia
tai disease, i
Our knowledge Of the geographical distribution
of the worm has within the last rs years increased
amazingly. and, it has at the present time been
found. in SO many countries that one may almost
state that ancylostoma or an allied genus Is gen
orally endemic (if one may apply this word to
worm all over the globe between the parallels
81 degrees 81 minutes north and 80 degrees south,
wherever the character and the moist condition of
the soil favors its presence. In Egypt is found
In nearlysalI the natives In parts Of India p per
cent areinfected, and it seems to be equally COM
mon in ceylon the Straits Settlements, Java
China, Japan, the Philippines the farmer parts OF
south America and the West Indies, and in the
warmer parts of Europe and North America. In
1892 ancyIostoma was discovered in the tin mines
OF Cornwall England probably introduced by the
return OF miners from the Transvaal or other SUB
tropical districts, and it has caused infinite harm
In the coal mines of central Europe, especially In
Westphalia Once established in its larval state
IN the heat and the moisture Of mine II is very
difficult to eradicate.
AS is usual with parasitic worms the male is
comparatively insignificant in number and size
coronared with the female There seem to be
ahout three times as many Of the latter as OF the
former and whereas the male measures from six
to eleven millimeters in length, the female meas
ures from seven to fifteen millimeters. Like all
animals that live in the dark, these little creatures
are without pigment and are grayish white, but
sometimes they are stained red with the blood
they absorb from their host. Ancylostoma cannot
shut its mouth; it is perpetually open inside II
fs proyided with certain strongly recurved hooks
Into this mouth and, indeed, quite long way in
10 the gulet is dragged a portion OF the soft mu-
cous membrane lining of the alimentary canal OF
the host and it is on the cells covering this that
the worm lives. Occasionally bloodVessel IS
runt,lred and then a pnkish tinge is given to the
parasitic worm; but according to Looss, the Dlood
.corpuscles are not digested. 1t is believed that
sfrom fine to time the worm shifts its position,
and that the abandoned bite continues 10 Dieeo'
and certainly there are some large glands opening
unto the mouth Of the worm like those that exist
in the nharynx of the leech which may very well
aeerete some anti-coagulating secretion.
fanaIe ancylostoma produces neVer-endinS
stream of eggs oval transparent COMMISSIONING
structures which do not develop very rar until
4hey have passed away from the body OF their
host Should however, they reach warm, moist
epot in a mine or tunnel, on the ground, the de-
valopment is so rapid that in one or two days
vonne larva Is Matched ont, very hungry and very
vigorous. devouring whatever organic matter 1t
can And so that within week 1t trebles its size
Jrt even then it is very minute BY the end Of its
drst seven days Of free existence the embryo has
twice cast it's skin and after its second moult it
nndsrgoes '.restcure" passing a stage compar-
able with the chrysalis in insects. In this cond-
tom If win live for weeks and months moving, II
y All but languidly in mud or damp earth
The question now arises: How 40 these jarVae
snd tbeir way into the alimentary canal Of man?
Tif few wears ago 1t was always thought that
re transference was direct, either by means of
srinking infected water or by means OF the per
serted instincts which the worm induces, for their