AMOEBAE OF THE INTESTINAL TRACT. Ill 



arguments which have been brought forward in the 

 endeavor to show that this species is simply a non- 

 virulent form of the amoebae commonly found in 

 dysentery, have one by one been abandoned in the 

 face of the evidence which has accumulated as to the 

 specific nature of the parasite. 



The recognition of this species is of practical 

 importance because many patients have been diag- 

 nosed as suffering from amoebic dysentery upon the 

 mere presence of Entamceba coli in the feces. I have 

 known patients to be treated with rectal injections 

 for weeks in whom the only evidence of dysentery 

 was the presence of amoebae in the stools, which upon 

 careful examination proved to be Entamceba coli. It 

 is undoubtedly true that the statistics of the Army 

 regarding the occurrence of this disease in the Philip- 

 pines are greatly vitiated by records of diagnoses 

 based upon the mere presence of amoebae in the feces, 

 no effort having been made to differentiate the 

 species. It must be admitted that such differentiation 

 cannot be made by the tyro in this work, but trained 

 laboratory assistance is generally available in most 

 localities and a correct diagnosis is of enough im- 

 portance to warrant submitting material to an expert. 

 It is just as reasonable to advocate treating every 

 case of fever with quinine on the supposition that the 

 malarial plasmodia are present, as it is to treat all 



