36 



men, on account of their '''weaker" constitution, and also 

 because they were more often subjects of the '"' lymphatic 

 humour 1 " which was believed to favour worms 2 . 



Geographical Distribution and Climate. 



Climate seems to have very little effect on the frequency of the 

 disease. The parasite is common in all parts of the world, in 

 hot, as well as in temperate and cold climates. It has been 

 identified in such widely separated countries as India 3 and 

 Egypt 4 , the West Indies 5 and Syria 6 . In Anglo-American 

 countries 7 , it is the commonest of all parasites, the Ascaris 

 lumbricoides taking the second place. On the continent of 

 Europe, these conditions are reversed. For obvious reasons it 

 might, a priori, be expected to be more prevalent among 

 vegetarian races than among flesh eaters, and it has been 

 stated to be more frequent in country districts than in towns, 



lymphatico chyloso humore par- 

 ticipat." (WEIST, D. S., De Morbis 

 ex vermibus, Halae Magdeburgicae, 

 1725, p. 6.) 



1 " To us les medecins admettent, 

 en effet, que le sexe feminin a plus 

 de tendance au lymphatisme et a 

 ses consequences que le sexe op- 

 pose." (TERSON, S. E., op. cit., 

 p. 19.) 



" Hoc quidem libenter con- 

 cedere possumus, quod humores 

 putrescentes generationi verniium 

 admodum faveant." (HiNZE, P. E., 

 op. cit., p. 11.) 



3 " In the Darbhanga jail the eggs 

 of the parasite (i.e., Oxyuris vermi- 

 cularis) were found in the stools of 

 9% of the prisoners." (CALVERT, 

 J. T., Notes on Intestinal Worms, 

 Calcutta, 1902, p. 8.) 



4 " Au dire de Bilharz il n'est 

 pas rare de trouver dans les 

 cadavres qu'on ouvre au Caire, 

 quelque milliers d'oxyures agglome- 

 res en pelotons." (DAVAINE, C., 

 Traite des Entozoaires et des maladies 

 vermineuses de Vhomme et des 

 animaux domestiques, Paris, 1860, 

 p. 212.) 



6 " In the West Indies . 



among the negroes (whose diet con- 

 sits chiefly of vegetables), complaints 

 arising from worms are much more 

 frequent than amongst the white 

 people ; insomuch that it is very 

 rare to see a negro child without a 

 swoln belly, and other symptoms 

 of this disease." (CHAMBERLAINE, 

 W., A practical treatise on the 

 efficacy of Stizolobium, or Cowhage, 

 in diseases occasioned by worms, 

 London, 1784, pp. 3, 4.) 



6 " Die Eingeweidewiirmer finden 

 sich unter den Bewohnern Syriens 

 und der Nillander ausserordeiitlich 

 haufig . . . Oxyuris vermicu- 

 laris . . . findet sich zu Haufen 

 schon in den Gedarmen der Kinder. 

 Unter den Erwachsenen sind es 

 besonders die kachektischen, was- 

 sersiichtigen und skrofulosen Sub- 

 jekte." (PRTJNER, F., Die Krank- 

 heiten des Orients, Erlangen, 1847, 

 p. 244.) 



7 " This species (i.e., Oxyuris 

 vermicularis) is the most common of 

 all the parasitic worms in the Anglo- 

 American." (LEIDY, J., A synopsis 

 of Entozoa, and some of their ecto- 

 congeners, Philadelphia, 1856, p. 

 50.) 



