VERMINOUS DISEASES. 189 



render observations philosophical, as it evinces 

 the extravagance of those remedies which have 

 been invented by superstitious men for the cure of 

 worms, and which have been adopted even by phy- 

 sicians of raeril,(8) who have too blindly subscrib- 

 ed to the opinion of the former. 



§ CYll. Jn the treatment of worms anil the 

 effects they produce, the physicians ought, in the 

 first place, to be assured of their existence, of their 

 seat, of their quantity and quality, because nature 

 has organized them differently, and experience 

 proves that they do not all yield equally to the 

 same remedies. (9) The medicines which destroy 

 ascarides are sometimes inert with regard to the 

 lumbricoides and taenia. 



On the contrary, the remedies which are high- 

 ly recommended against the taenia, administered to 

 patients not having this worm, may occasion very 

 severe derangements of the animal economy. 



For this cause, before we commence the treat- 

 ment of worms, it is incumbent on us to ascertain 

 their species, in order to direct the method of cure. 



§. CVIII. In the treatment of verminous com- 

 plaints in general, seich remedies as strengthen the 

 body, at the same time that they diminish the mor- 

 bid secretion of mucus, and resist the decay and con- 

 sumption of all the parts, give action to the organs 

 destined to the natural functions, annoy the worms, 

 destroy them, and excite throughout the system 

 that energy which is so necessary to expel them, and 

 to prevent their further increase ; the remedies that 



