365 



ANTARES. 



ANTHELMINTICS. 



abstained from. The irritability of the system is best lessened by 

 opium and tonic medicines. These last furnish an excellent vehicle 

 for the administration of acids, which are the most fitting medicines, 

 either muriatic, nitric, or the citric acid, which is most grateful to 

 children. The phosphate of iron is also a very useful medicine. 

 Purgatives of an active kind should seldom be given ; but when the 

 stomach and bowels of children are much disordered, calomel and 

 rhubarb taken frequently for some time are of much service, especially 

 when the phosphate of iron is employed at the same time. Pure, in- 

 vigorating air, ami moderate exercise, are very beneficial, with relaxation 

 from tuo great mental exertion, where this has preceded the disease. 



ANTARES, a name given'to the bright star marked a in the con- 

 stellation SCORPIO, which see. In the latitude of Greenwich, it has 

 not more than 12J of altitude when on the meridian, where it is at 

 midnight in the beginning of July. In 1846, this star was discovered 

 to be double by Professor Mitchell, of Cincinnati, U.S. According 

 to Mr. Dawes, the two constituent bodies were about 3"'4 apart in the 

 year 1848. 



ANTECEDENT, a mathematical term used in proportion, meaning 

 the Jirst of the two terms of a ratio, in opposition to the consequent, or 

 second term. Thus, in the continued proportion : 



2 : 4 : : 3 : 6 : : 4 : 8 : : 5 : 10, c. 



2, 3, 4, 5, &c., are antecedents; 4, 6, 8, 10, &c., are consequents. 

 Antecedents may be made consequents, and consequent.-) antecedents 

 without altering the truth of the proportion. Thus, if 



a : b : : c : d, 



it is equally true that 



b ; a : : d : c. 



AN'TECEDENTIA. When a heavenly body moves contrary to the 

 order of the signs of the zodiac from Gemini to Taurus, from Taurus 

 to Aries, &c. it is said to move in antecedently. When it moves 

 according to the order of the signs, it is said to move in eomequentia. 



ANTEFIXA, or ANTEFIX^E, for this term is more frequently 

 used in the plural, for both singular and plural, than otherwise. Ante- 

 fixse are Mocks with vertical faces placed along the top of a cornice in 

 ancient Greek and Roman buildings, to hide the ends of the covering 

 or joint tiles, and their faces are generally carved with a fiower, leaf, or 

 other enrichment, to make them ornamental. The lions' heads and 

 masks sometimes carved or fixed on the upper mouldings of cornices, 

 which serve as spouts to carry off the water, are also called antefixic. 

 Several terra cotta autefixse of very beautiful design, from Rome, are in 

 the British Museum. The flanks and rounded projection from the 

 eastern end of the church of St. Pancras, in London, exhibit antufixa: 

 ranged over the cornice, but without the parts of which they are the 

 fitting accompaniments. The Pall Mall and Carlton Gardens fronts of 

 the Travellers' Club House, in London, show antefixa: more judiciously 

 composed with the roof, with which they form an ornament to, and 

 help to enrich, the elevation. 



ANTEPAGMENTA. This is an ancient term for the jambs of a 

 door, or, as they are familiarly termed, the door-posts. 



ANTHELMINTICS, from two Greek words, signifying means used 

 to expel worms from the intestinal canal, and to prevent their forma- 

 tion. Though the origin of worms in the intestines has been a 

 subject of inquiry and controversy for many ages, we are far from 

 having arrived at a satisfactory conclusion respecting it. While some 

 have regarded them as the result of what is termed spontaneous or 

 equivocal i/eneration occurring in the intestines (see Aristot. ' Hist. 

 Anim.' v. 19), others have maintained that they are introduced into 

 the stomach from without, either along with our food, or in some 

 other way, in so small a form as to be unobserved. Great difficulties 

 attend either view of the question. If it is held that they come from 

 without, the sources of them have never been seen, and cannot be 

 pointed out. The opinion of their spontaneous generation is also 

 rendered very improbable, both by the consideration that such an 

 occurrence would be at variance with the present universal mode of 

 production of all other animals, which invariably issue from parents 

 similar to themselves, and by the fact that, however the worms may 

 be at first produced, when once developed in the intestines, they are 

 propagated like other animals of the same grade in the scale of organi- 

 sation, namely, by parents of distinct sexes; and the ora or eyyg 

 which the female produces are both to be seen in the oviducts (see 

 fig. l,o), before they escape, and also are to be found among the con- 

 tents of the intestines previous to their development as perfect worms. 

 The settlement of this question would be interesting, and might prove 

 n.-,eful hi directing us in our prophylactic treatment. But as we cannot 

 pretend to this in the present state of our knowledge, we must refrain 

 from further discussion of the subject, and rather inquire into the 

 circumstances and conditions favourable to their development and the 

 means of counteracting them. 



The causes of worms, and of the tendency to their formation, may 

 be 'divided into, 1, general and local, referring to the residence ; and, 

 2, special, referring to the individual infested by them, his consti- 

 tution, habits, diet, &c. 



Of the first division, the most general is climate. In certain 

 countries worms prevail more than in others ; and hence their fre- 

 quency in Holland, where there is no want of personal cleanliness, or 



attention to the food ; but the constant moisture of the atmosphere, 

 both producing general weakness, and acting hurtfully on the skin, 

 the state of which, owing to the sympathy existing between it and the 

 digestive organs, influences greatly the health of the body, farther 

 predisposes to their development. We see the same causes operate 

 in producing the rot in sheep, which is always accompanied by the 

 presence of a worm (the Distoma hepaticum or Jiitke) in the liver ; and 

 we shall find the same means prove successful in preventing their 

 formation in both cases : as only sheep feeding in wet pastures, such 

 as marshes, are subject to the rot. 



Dwelling in an impure air, where there is not sufficient ventilation, 

 prepares the body for becoming the seat of worms, and hence their 

 greater frequency among the crowded inhabitants of towns than among 

 the peasantry. 



The effect of these general causes is to produce a weak state of the 

 system, the existence of which, however occasioned, seems the first 

 requisite for the development of worms. When in addition to these 

 there are other causes which operate only on individuals, we perceive 

 the reason why one person becomes subject to worms, from which 

 another person continues exempt. This naturally conducts to the 

 second set of causes, connected with the individual affected by these 

 parasites. These we shall find to be a constitution, either hereditarily 

 weak, or debilitated by sedentary occupations and improper diet. 

 Accordingly, those most subject to worms are females and children, 

 especially of a scrophulous habit. In these last there exists very com- 

 monly weakness of the digestive organs, along with an immoderate 

 craving for food, which injudicious parents and nurses are too apt to 

 indulge regarding it as the sign of a good appetite by which more 

 aliment is introduced into the stomach than it can conveniently digest, 

 and consequently the stomach and bowels become clogged, both by the 

 undigested matters remaining in them, and also by the unhealthy 

 secretions, which, under such circumstances, are invariably poured into 

 them. The articles given to satisfy this craving, which generally 

 shows itself between meals, are almost always those which experience 

 has shown to be the most calculated to favour the production of worms, 

 namely, articles of too farinaceous a kind, as biscuits, cakes of different 

 sorts, or bread and butter, or cheese : for milk, and the preparations of 

 it, which we have just mentioned, seem to dispose to the formation of 

 worms more decidedly than anything else. 



The presence of worms in the intestines cannot always be deter- 

 mined by any one, or even by the concurrence of many symptoms, for 

 enormous touias (tape iconm) have sometimes been passed, of the 

 existence of which not the least suspicion was entertained by tlu> 

 individual ; nor was any derangement of the health observable. But 

 we are justified in suspecting them to be present where the appearance 

 and expression of the countenance are much altered from the natural 

 state ; when it is of a pale, somewhat leaden, hue, subject to sudden 

 flushings, often limited to one side of the face, where the eyes have 

 lost their brightness, the pupil is enlarged, and the lower eyelid 

 surrounded by a livid circle. In addition to these symptoms, the nose 

 is often swollen, and affected by an intolerable itching, or frequently 

 bleeding ; there are pains in the head, with ringing of the ears ; the 

 tongue is coated, and the breath disagreeable. The appetite is very 

 variable, sometimes there is none, at other times it is ravenous : there 

 is often a feeling of sickness and a disposition to vomit ; occasionally 

 there are violent cholics, the bowels irregular, seldom costive, more 

 frequently loose ; the stools slimy, sometimes tinged with blood ; the 

 belly swollen and hard, while there is generally a wasting of the rest of 

 the body ; the urine is rarely clear, often of a milky appearance. The 

 sleep is disturbed, and the child grinds the teeth ; during the day, it is 

 indolent, and very variable in temper. 



It is necessary to be thus minute in stating the symptoms of worms, 

 as, sometimes on very slight grounds, individuals have been subjected 

 to a long and severe course of treatment for worms, when none 

 existed ; while, too often, they are allowed to commit their ravages 

 unmolested, and to plunge the unhappy victim into a state of great 

 misery and suffering, and even lead to a fatal termination. We are 

 not willing to attach full credit to all the horrible consequences attri- 

 buted to worms, but that they often produce many serious diseases, 

 and aggravate others, is certain. 



The number of different kinds of worms infesting the stomach or 

 intestines of man is not very great, but they propagate their species 

 often with astonishing rapidity. We shall enumerate the most 

 common sorts, following the nomenclature of Bremser, (' Lebende 

 Wurmer in lebenden Menschen." Wien, 1819; also translated into 

 French, by Dr. Grundler, Paris, 1828. ' Traite' des Vers Intestinaux.') 



The Trichocephalus digpar (or lony thread worm}, found in the upper 

 part of the large intestines (or Caimm) ; Oxyuris rermicularis (Ascarix 

 eerm.icu.larw, the maic, or thread worm), which inhabits the rectum, or 

 lowest intestine ; Agcaris lumbrieoides (the large round worm), mostly 

 found in the small intestines ; Sotkriocephatui lattta (Tanio, lata, the 

 broad tajte-worm), found in the small intestines (principally of the 

 inhabitants of Russia, Poland, and Switzerland, seldom met with in 

 Britain) ; Taenia lolium (the tape-worm), in the small intestines, gene- 

 rally alone, but occasionally three or four together : the Diitoma, 

 hrpaticum (or fluke), is sometimes found in the liver and gall-bladder of 

 man, but more commonly of sheep, goats, &c. 



The worms which are occasionally found in other parts of the body 



