Handbook of Medical EntomologyRiley, William A. (William Albert)
Science
Handbook of Medical Entomology
Riley, William A. (William Albert)
Insect pests; Insects as carriers of disease; Medical parasitology
Similarly, most writers on the subject have concurred with the view that
the salivary glands are the source of the poison. However, recent work,
especially that of Nuttall and Shipley (1903), and Schaudinn (1904), has
shown that the evidence is by no means conclusive. Nuttall dissected out
six sets (thirty-six acini) of glands from freshly killed _Culex
pipiens_ and placed them in a drop of salt solution. The drop was
allowed to dry, it being thought that the salt crystals would facilitate
the grinding up of the glands with the end of a small glass rod, this
being done under microscopic control. After grinding up, a small drop of
water was added of the size of the original drop of saline, and an equal
volume of human blood taken from the clean finger-tip was quickly mixed
therewith, and the whole drawn up into a capillary tube. Clotting was
not prevented and no hemolysis occurred. Salivary gland emulsion added
to a dilute suspension of corpuscles did not lead to hemolysis. This
experiment was repeated a number of times, with slight modification, but
with similar results. The data obtained from the series "do not support
the hypothesis that the salivary glands, at any rate in _Culex pipiens_,
contain a substance which prevents coagulation."
Much more detailed, and the more important experiments made along this
line, are those of Schaudinn (1904). The results of these experiments
were published in connection with a technical paper on the alternation
of generations and of hosts in _Trypanosoma_ and _Spirochæta_, and for
this reason seem to have largely escaped the notice of entomologists.
They are so suggestive that we shall refer to them in some detail.
Schaudinn observed that the three œsophageal diverticula (commonly,
but incorrectly, known as the "sucking stomach") (fig. 24) usually
contain large bubbles of gas and in addition, he always found yeast
cells. On the ground of numerous observations, Schaudinn was convinced
that these yeast plants are normal and constant commensals of the
insect. He regarded them as the cause of the gas bubbles to be found in
diverticula. It was found that as the insect fed, from time to time the
abdomen underwent convulsive contractions which resulted in the emptying
of the œsophageal diverticula and the salivary glands through blood
pressure.
In order to test the supposed toxic action of the salivary glands,
Schaudinn repeatedly introduced them under his skin and that of his
assistant, in a drop of salt solution, and never obtained a suggestion
of the irritation following a bite of the insect, even though the glands
were carefully rubbed to fragments after their implantation. Like
Nuttall, he failed to get satisfactory evidence that the secretion of
the salivary glands retarded coagulation of the blood.
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