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
Before I proceed to summarise the whole body of facts I must in the next
place state that Manson and myself contributed a joint communication to
the Medical Society of London on the 25th of March, 1878. In this memoir
I especially dealt with the question of priority in connection with the
discovery of the adult worm. I then restated that the adult parasite
was discovered by Dr Bancroft on December 21st, 1876. The discovery
was verified by Dr Lewis on August 7th, 1877, by Dr Silva Araujo
October 16th, 1877, and by Dr F. dos Santos November 12th, 1877. I gave
these dates unhesitatingly, without, however, in any way prejudicing
the question already raised in respect of the identity of the worms
found in each case. My own mind was fully made up on that point, and
affirmatively so. Dr dos Santos’ find was made in conjunction with Dr J.
de Moura in a case of lymphatic abscess of the arm. Clinically viewed,
the case published by Dr Araujo must be regarded as unique. Not only
were adult and embryonic Filariæ found in the same patient, but, what
was far more surprising and interesting, the patient displayed in his
own person several of the disorders hitherto found apart; and he was
more than once attacked by one or two of the diseases. He experienced
a first attack of chyluria three years ago, then attacks of craw-craw
commencing a year ago, the latter being attributed to bathing in a
particular lagoon. He had a second attack of chyluria six months back,
at which time lymph-scrotum appeared, and also scrotal elephantiasis.
Dr Bourel-Roncière pronounced this case to be unique, and attributed
nearly all the disorders to the presence of Wucherer’s embryonic
Filariæ. In a very elaborate analysis of and commentary on Dr da Silva
Lima’s second memoir, Dr Bourel-Roncière warmly claims for Wucherer the
supreme honor in all these discoveries. A number of affections hitherto
regarded as distinct, and all of which appear to be due to the action of
Filariæ, are regarded by Dr Bourel-Roncière as mere phases of one and
the same disorder. This affection he terms _Wucherer’s helminthiasis_.
Dr Manson had indeed arrived independently at a similar conclusion, and
I am confident that Wucherer, were he alive, would in this particular
aspect of the question be the last to claim priority either to Lewis, to
Bancroft, or to Manson.
In this place I may observe that Dr Pedro S. de Magalhães, of Rio de
Janeiro, detected free microscopic nematodes in the potable waters of
Rio (agua da Carioca), which from their similarity he supposes may have
some genetic relation with _Filaria Bancrofti_. In this opinion I cannot
share.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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