220 THE AMERICAN MONTHLY [July, 



never seen this form except in cases of diabetes mellitus, and 

 he leaves it an open question whether they are normal or path- 

 ological. 



4. Distinctly pigmented, round, long or transversely oval 

 cells, the longitudinal axis being generally parallel to the lon- 

 gitudinal axis of the rest of the epithelial cells. — N. Y. M. J. 



The Microscope in Anchylostomiasis. — We are indebted 

 to an Egyptian physician, Dr. M. Sandwith, of Cairo, for some 

 interesting facts about this disease, in the diagnosis of which 

 the microscope plays an important part. Anchylostomiasis is 

 an insidious, wasting disease, characterized by progressive 

 ansemia without apparent cause, and by digestive and nervous 

 deterioration, occurring chiefly among earth and brick laborers 

 of warm climates, caused by the presence in the duodenum of 

 a blood-sucking nematode worm. It occasionally proves fatal 

 but is capable of cure upon removal of the parasites, and it is 

 capable of prevention by means of cleanliness. It is caused by 

 the introduction into the stomach of a microscopical quantity 

 of earth containing embryos of the parasite in its rhabdite 

 form. The muddy water drank in Egypt often acts as a vehicle. 

 Uawashed vegetables and unwashed hands of people who have 

 handled the contaminated soil coming in contact with the 

 mouth produce infection. A microscopical examination of wa- 

 ter from 56 wells and ponds showed 16 to be infected. Con- 

 tinued exposure to the sun's heat during dry weather destroys 

 the embryos. 



But the eating of earth by the natives is the great and surest 

 cause of infection. Suspecting this, Leichtenstern fed men with 

 rhabdites and found eggs in their excrements a few weeks later. 

 The worms themselves are not excreted. 



The microscope furnishes the readiest means of detecting the 

 parasite. In most cases eggs can be detected in a tiny portion 

 of the suspected faeces. The fseces are placed in a test tube with 

 a weak solution of carbolic acid and rendered fit for examina- 

 tion. Suspected material iiiay be cultivated in damp earth ex- 

 posed to the air, and if the ova are present worms will hatch 

 out. 



The urine is similar to that of ordinary anajmia, neutral or 

 alkaline and of specific gravity 1010 to 1015. In advanced 

 cases the microscope reveals a trace of albumen without casts. 



