258 TIMOTHY RICHARDS LEWIS. 



be associated ; indeed, it would appear that one of the principal 

 morbid conditions with which tliey are associated in this country 

 — ncevoid elephantiasis — is unknown in Australia. It may also 

 be noteworthy that no male worm was found among the 

 specimens. 



Dr. Cobbold is, however, of opinion that they are identical, 

 and it would be superfluous to say that the opinion of one who 

 has devoted so many years to the study of helminths is eiititled 

 to consideration. This observer has lately (the ' Lancet,^ July 

 13, 1878) given a summary of the bibliography, &c., of these 

 questions, in which I observe a slight error. It is with reference 

 to the mature nematoid helminths found in Australia. These, Dr. 

 Cobbold states, were " first discovered by Dr. Bancroft and first 

 described by myself.'" It seems to me, however, that not only 

 did Dr. Bancroft discover the parasite, but also furnished the first 

 account of them which appeared. It is possible that the descrip- 

 tion supplied by Dr. Bancroft, which is quoted on a previous page, 

 is not considered sufficiently precise to be accepted as such, from a 

 naturalist's point of view. Allowing this, if, as Dr. Cobbold 

 maintains, the Australian and Indian parasites are identical, the 

 first full account of the mature Filaria sanguinis honinis, as found 

 in India, was published, both in this country and iu London, 

 previous to the appearance of Dr. Cobbold's description — having, 

 indeed, been in the printer's hands before Dr. Cobbold had even 

 seen the Australian parasites. Dr. Cobbold, moreover, refers to 

 such prior publication in the appendix to his own article. 



This trifling oversight will, I have no doubt, be duly corrected 

 should this distinguished observer have occasion to write regard- 

 ing these subjects in the future. 



In considering the question of the relation which may exist 

 between the presence of organisms iu the circulation and disease, 

 the conclusion is forced upon us that in reality but little of a 

 definite character is known. One thing, however, is clearly mani- 

 fest, that the supposition that beings become asphyxiated as a 

 result of the existence of living organisms in the blood, is 

 untenable. The study of their natural history as they occur in 

 man or animals does not afford the slightest support to such a 

 view. Indeed, so far as we at present know, it would seem that 

 the presence of embryos in the blood, no matter how numerous, 

 exercises no marked deleterious effect on the organism. It is 

 probable, however, that the parents of these organisms, especially 

 when helminthic, do exert a deleterious influence on the well- 

 being of their hosts, — as, for example, the lesions which exist in 

 the walls of the blood-vessels caused by the Filaria sanguinolenta, 

 would seem to indicate. With regard to allied conditions in 

 man, it is to be inferred that the influence exerted by nematoid 



