VERMINOUS DISEASES, 191 



The mere catalogue of remedies vaunted against 

 worms would fill whole pages, but it could only 

 serve to open the way to pyrrhonism. 



I am not disposed to say much of them, because 

 an analytical exposition of their history would be 

 foreign from my subject. I shall therefore gener- 

 ally confine myself to an enumeration of all those 

 remedies only, which in the opinion of every prac- 

 titioner, are acknowledged to be the most active and 

 efficient in fulfilling the above indications. I shall 

 then describe those remedies, which experiment 

 and observation have recognized, as well suited to 

 expel from the human body the different species of 

 worms. It is necessary to observe that several 

 medicines are endowed with a drastic power, though 

 stimulant, and that others possess a corroborant 

 power. 



The physician should convince himself of the 

 species of verminous affection, whether it is local, 

 sympathetic, or general, before he decides on the 

 remedy which is to be employed. 



Drastic purgatives may be proper for robust 

 persons, in whom worms produce local symptoms, 

 though they would occasion serious mischief if giv- 

 en to feeble subjects, especially when the asthenic 

 diathesis greatly prevails in the stomach and bow- 

 els. In these cases we should effect the desired 

 end by employing remedies which excite and 

 strengthen the animal frame, without altering the 

 natural secretion of the fluids. 



