Parasites: A Treatise on the Entozoa of Man and Animals: Including Some Account of the EctozoaCobbold, T. Spencer (Thomas Spencer)
Science
Parasites: A Treatise on the Entozoa of Man and Animals: Including Some Account of the Ectozoa
Cobbold, T. Spencer (Thomas Spencer)
Helminths; Parasites
will, in forty-eight hours after ingestion, have become fully-developed
females; and from each of these 42,000 there will proceed at least
1000 as a brood, so that the entire progeny (and it is they that do
the mischief by their independent migrations through our tissues) will
eventually yield about 42,000,000 entozoa. If we should be so voracious
as to eat a pound of such trichinised flesh, then there would be
400,000,000 as the result of a single meal.
“Having detailed these facts and inferences, I now wish to bring to your
notice some other particulars connected with the Cumberland outbreak.
“Dr Dickinson, of Workington, tells me that he was at first suspicious
that his patients were suffering from fever, but was not quite able to
make out what the disorder was. At length certain symptoms occurred,
which suggested that it might possibly be the German flesh-worm
epidemic making its appearance in this country for the first time,
and, therefore, in view of verifying the facts of the case, he sent
me portions of the flesh of the pig. He describes the symptoms, which
in their character corresponded with those previously recorded as
experienced by persons similarly attacked. Dr Dickinson remarks, towards
the close of his communication, that the victims form a small family
who have carefully reared their own swine. The British farmer is thus
here introduced to us at his own table playing the part of ‘host’--at
her own table, I should say, for, to be more precise, it is a widow,
her daughter, and a man-servant who are suffering. Dr Dickinson informs
me that for two or three weeks before he was called to see them they
had been eating sausages and boiled pork from one of their own home-fed
pigs, which pig, by the way, turns out to have been an old sow. He
brought away some sections of the leaner portions of the flesh for
microscopic examination. You will observe that there can be no mistake
about the source of the food on this occasion. Hitherto, Trichina has
not been observed in our British-fed swine in more than one or two, or
possibly three instances. Therefore it would be very interesting to
ascertain how it happened that this poor pig became trichinised. In my
communication addressed to the ‘British Medical Journal,’ I wrote as
follows:--“Dr Dickinson has at the present time under his care a family
suffering from the so-called flesh-worm disease, resulting from the
consumption of ham prepared from pigs reared by the family themselves.
A portion of ham sent to me swarmed with recently encapsuled Trichinæ.
Dr Dickinson being thus the first person who has diagnosed trichiniasis
in the living subject in England, I hope he may be induced to give us
further particulars.” The editor, in commenting upon this letter, added
a practical point, which I wish especially to bring to your notice. He
says:--‘The subject of parasitic diseases of domestic animals is one
of widespread and increasing interest. It is immediately related to the
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