VERMINOUS AFFECTIONS 163 



ous to derive these liighly asthenic diseases trora 

 worms. 



§ CII. We have already shown(86) that the 

 astlienic state of the human body is favourable to 

 the development of the germs of worms, provided 

 there exists in some part a decomposiiiou in the 

 continuity of the ors;ans. 



Worms, escaped from the egg, find in the de- 

 composed matter, an aliment which serves to nour- 

 ish them. 



In severe diseases, mucus abounds more* in the 

 degestive organs than in other parts ; it thence fol- 

 lows that the development of worms must be more 

 frequent in the intestinal tube than in other parts 

 of the body. 



§) cm. From all that has been hitherto said, 

 we clearly comprehend that verminous fevers, like 

 gastric fevers, so called, (87) are really nervous fe- 

 vers, during which worms multiply and grow in 

 those parts of the body that are most enfeebled. 

 Tlie same m\y be said of mucous(88) and of grandu- 

 lar(89) diseases ; they are all the effects of a slow 

 and universal consumption of the body. In these 

 diseases worms are evacuated, and no more are de- 

 veloped ; and under the influence of a stimulating 

 and appropriate regimen, the body begins to re- 

 gain its lost strength, and to miintain the contin- 

 uity of the organs, particularly iu those destined 

 for the natural functions. I do not therefore speak 

 of the symptoms of these maladies, because those 

 of nervous fever are slow or acute, and accompa- 



