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
The first discovery of this entozoon, in its embryo state, was made
by Wucherer on the 4th of August, 1866. To use Dr Da Silva Lima’s
words:--“At the moment when Wucherer was seeking for the _Bilharzia
hæmatobia_, he found instead of it an unknown worm. Our illustrious
collaborator,” adds Dr Lima, “has made his important discovery known
under the modest title of ‘Preliminary Notice on a species of Worm at
present not described;’ and still more modestly Wucherer formulated in
the following manner his judicious and prudent conclusions:--It would
be rash on my part to put forth a conjecture on the coexistence of
these worms of the hæmatochyluria, and on the etiological signification
which they might have. I shall therefore abstain until I have been able
to make more ample investigations, and until I have been permitted to
examine the corpse of a hæmaturic, which has not yet been possible.”
(‘Gazeta Medica da Bahia,’ Dec., 1868, p. 99.)
In the year 1868 Dr J. H. Salisbury referred certain ova which he found
in the urine to a new and distinct species of nematode. Although he had
no acquaintance with the adult parasite, Dr Salisbury at once placed
the “species” in the genus Trichina. Here is what he says:--“_Trichina
cystica_ (Salisbury).--This is a small species which I have found in
the human bladder. In all my examinations I have met with this little
entozoon in three cases only. In two of these it was only occasionally
met with in the urine. In the other it occurred in great numbers.
Frequently from ten to fifteen ova were found in a single drop of urine.”
It is important to remark, that there was no hæmaturia in the last-named
case, which Dr Salisbury describes as one of “cystinic rheumatism,”
or “severe cystinæmia associated with rheumatism and paralysis.” The
patient “had been insane for several years. Her urine was passed milky,
with granular cystine, and was dense and scanty.” It is likewise added:
“No examination was made of the muscles after death to determine whether
this species burrowed in the tissue, like the (_Trichina_) _spiralis_.”
So much for the principal facts recorded by Dr Salisbury. His paper is
accompanied by two woodcut figures of the ova (× 300 diam.), and one
representation of the embryo (× 1000 diam.). If these figures give the
size correctly, the ova measure only about 1/800″ in length, by 1/1560″
in breadth, whilst the embryo would be about 1/500″ from head to tail.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account