lOO THE AMOEBAE LIVING IN MAN 



have found that emetine has a specific action upon E. giiigivalis, and 

 they therefore advocated the administration of this drug in pyorrhoea. 

 It will be sufficient to note here that these claims have never been sub- 

 stantiated, and that many workers have now found that emetine is not a 

 specific cure for pyorrhoea or amoebic infections of the mouth. 

 Goodrich and Moseley (1916), Mendel (1916), and others, have failed to 

 observe any effects produced upon E. gingivalis by giving emetine to its 

 host. Lynch (i9i5),who apparently believes in emetine as a specific for 

 " oral endamebiasis," cites a number of cases in which it appears to have 

 been useless. It thus seems very probable that emetine has no specific 

 action upon E. gingivalis, and that the original claims were based upon 

 insufficient evidence. No other substance has, up to the present, been 

 regarded as a specific for infections with this amoeba. 



