N. MATERIA MEDIC A, THERAPEUTICS, AND HYGIENE. 533 



doned on the soil by caravans of pilgrims, nor the number 

 of human bodies thrown into the Ganges, that produce the 

 eruptions of the Asiatic cholera, as these practices have pre- 

 vailed for ages, while appearances of epidemic or Asiatic 

 cholera in Europe, Africa, or America date only from the 

 beginning of the present century ; fourth, otlier causes, 

 therefore, must exist for the frequent movements of this dis- 

 ease, and it is in India that these are to be investigated ; 

 fifth, secondary epidemics may perhaps be developed in 

 points already infected ; but, with very rare exceptions, they 

 never assume the exact features of genuine cholera, and they 

 will generally fade out and disappear until reinforced by a 

 new eruption from the original starting-point. Therefore 

 the special points to be considered are the questions why 

 cholera has remained for centuries in an endemic and station- 

 ary condition in India, and why it has recently emerged, 

 though the atmospheric conditions, and the manners and cus- 

 toms of the Hindoos and pilgrims, apparently remain un- 

 changed. 1 B, XV., 299. ^ 



PECULIAR DISEASE AMONG DOGS IN CHINA. 



The dogs of China are subject to a curious infliction, 

 known as "worms in the heart," the symptoms of Avhich 

 are the vomiting of blood, staggering, and deatli within 

 twenty-four hours of the attack. In one instance, in dis- 

 section, a continuous rope of worms was found, fourteen 

 inches long, stretching from the right hepatic vein through 

 the cava into the right auricle, and thence, by a fine twist 

 of one or two worms, through the tricuspid valve into the 

 right ventricle, together with a rope of worms, fourteen 

 inches long, stretching into both lungs. The precise species 

 of entozoon has not been indicated, but it produces death 

 very quickly, mostly in a mechanical way, by blocking up 

 the bloodvessels and cavities of the heart. Treatment is 

 difiicult, as the disease is seldom recognized during life, and 

 when death comes, it is so sudden as to give but little time 

 for remedies. Even if the worms could be killed, they would 

 probably be as injurious dead as alive, so far as choking up 

 the heart goes. The problem is not yet solved as to the 

 mode of their entrance into the circulation. 2 A, XIX., 

 357. 



