212 



PARASITES OF MAN 



FIG. 41. Male Dochmiiu dvode- 

 nalis, with hursa separately en- 

 larged. After Kucheumeiiter. 



metrically disposed, unequally-sized, horny, conical, converging 

 teeth. The neck is continuous with 

 the cylindrical body, which is ^' in 

 thickness. The body terminates in a 

 straight cone-shaped, or rather sharply- 

 pointed tail in the female, the caudal 

 extremity of the male ending in a 

 partially inflexed, blunt point. In the 

 male there is a cup-shaped, bilobed 

 bursa, the membranes of which are 

 supported by eleven chitinous rays, ten 

 being simple, whilst the median, or odd 

 one, is bifurcated at the summit. The 

 mode of reproduction is viviparous. 

 Adult males and females occur in the 

 proportion of one of the former to 

 three of the latter. 

 As above mentioned, it was Griesinger who first pointed out 

 the clinical importance of this entozoon. He first explained 

 the manner in which the worm produces anaemia, the persons 

 attacked losing blood as if they were being bitten by innu- 

 merable small leeches. Like the rest of their kindred, these 

 worms are veritable blood-suckers. In the first instance the 

 views of Griesinger met with opposition, but they have since 

 received abundant confirmation. Whilst Kuchenmeister's 

 ' Manual ' furnishes an excellent account of the disorder as 

 known in Europe, we are chiefly indebted to Wucherer for 

 what is known of the disorder in Brazil. The experiences 

 recorded in the ' Deutsches Archiv fiir Klinische Medicin ' for 

 Sept. 27th, 1872 (s. 379-400), were amongst the last that 

 appeared from the pen of that gifted and amiable physician. 

 As little or no notice of his writings appears to have been 

 taken by professional men in this country, I depart somewhat 

 from the design of this work when I venture to abstract a few 

 of the clinical particulars which he has supplied. Their im- 

 portance in relation to sanitary science is obvious, inasmuch as 

 these parasites are introduced into the human body by drink- 

 ing impure water, or, at least, water which either contains the 

 free larvae of the worm, or the intermediary bearers that harbor 

 the larvae. 



It should be borne in mind that Dubinins original discovery 

 was made at Milan in 1838, whilst Griesinger's recognition 



