The greatest triumph of engineering skill the world has ever seen, the St. Gothard railway tunnel, was the cause of a great sacrifice of life and health owing to a disease engendered by the presence of intestinal parasites, resembling the _trichinæ_; and we learn from Professor Calderini, of Parma, and Professors Bozzolo and Pagliani, of Turin, that from 70 to 80 per cent. of the miners suffered from this complaint, which they have designated _anæmia ankylostoma_. Among the men who worked in the tunnel for about one year 95 per cent. were more or less affected; they likewise discovered that those who are thus attacked never entirely recover. Many reasons for this enormous fatality have been assigned, such as the vitiated state of the atmosphere, the difficulty of ventilation, the continual explosions of dynamite, the consumption of which was 660 lb. per day, the smoke and smell from 400 to 500 oil-lamps, and the exhalations from the men and horses. There was an entire absence of sanitary appliances, and the temperature was generally between 80° and 95° Fahrenheit. These surroundings were quite sufficient to account for this great sacrifice of human life, not to mention other causes. The diet of these men was probably insufficient and of inferior quality, and I dare say if more crucial inquiries were instituted we should find that these miners were as a rule inattentive to personal cleanliness, and that they never used salt at any of their meals; if this were so, and I cannot help thinking that my surmises are correct, we have one great cause all but sufficient for bringing about a condition of the system favourable for the development of _anæmia ankylostoma_. The presence of these parasites in the intestines of the men who worked in the St. Gothard Tunnel has been proved beyond question by a careful and prolonged series of microscopic examinations by Dr. Giaccone, a physician in the employ of the contractors at Airolo. It is stated that Dr. Sonderreger, of St. Gall, who has been assisting Dr. Giaccone in his experiments, has discovered a process by which these parasites may be completely extirpated. A pestiferous atmosphere is bad enough in itself, but when it is associated with impure diet—and food I maintain is impure if it is cooked and eaten without salt—we have a state of things which will prepare a soil where intestinal parasites will develop to a marvellous extent. It is somewhat interesting to know that a similar disease is endemic in Egypt and Brazil, and that it arises from the presence of the _ankylostoma_ in the intestines.