272 PARASITES OF MAN 



referred to one or other of the Muscidae proper. Mr Hope gave 

 nearly forty cases of this kind, referable to eight different 

 species of fly, and, as already implied, I have myself collected 

 a great variety of the maggots of MuscidaB passed by the bowel, 

 besides others obtained either from beneath the skin or from 

 open ulcerations. 



The flies hitherto noticed as supplying parasitic maggots in 

 man are Musca domestica, M. carnaria, M. larvarum, M. nigra, 

 and perhaps M. Cibaria, M. stabulans, and M. Casar. This last, 

 a handsome fly, is the species which proves so troublesome to 

 sheep. The habit which flies have of depositing their eggs in 

 open wounds, when the victims are asleep, is a fertile source of 

 this kind of parasitism. Some of the instances recorded by 

 Kirby and Spence are revolting iu the extreme. They quote 

 the cases which came under Mr Sell's notice in Jamaica. In 

 one instance the flies were hatched in a neglected blister on the 

 chest ; in another from the gums and inside of the cheek ; and 

 in a third, from the nostrils of a negro, from whom 235 larvae 

 were expelled. The case of the Lincolnshire pauper, Page, who 

 was literally eaten up by maggots, is almost incredible. An 

 equally horrible instance, however, is recorded by Cloquet. It 

 is said that the Jamaica cases were all due to the larvae of the 

 bluebottle fly (M. vomitoria) . An instance of the same kind has 

 been recorded by Mr Knox (A. M. D.). Sufficiently revolting as 

 these cases are, the horrors attending them are eclipsed by the 

 habits of the larvae of Lucilia hominivora. The best accounts of 

 its habits are those by M. Coquerel, M. Saint-Pair, and M. 

 Vercammer. The insects lay their eggs in the mouth and nostrils, 

 and when the larvae escape they devour the tissues surrounding 

 the buccal cavity, the pharynx, glottis, frontal and nasal sinuses, 

 even reaching the sockets of the eye. Several Cayenne convicts 

 have perished from the maggots of this fly, which is also pre- 

 valent in Mexico. These are not, however, the only instances of 

 maggots gaining access to the nasal chambers. In a case 

 recorded by Dr Astros, of Aix, 113 were discharged from the 

 nose of a woman ; and M. Legrand du Saulle records an instance 

 where a number of larvae occupied the frontal sinuses of a girl, 

 nine years of age. The larvae produced persistent headache and 

 convulsions. In the case recorded by Wohlfart, 18 larvae were 

 discharged from the nose of an old man, and in the example 

 given by Latham several larvae were obtained from the frontal 

 sinuses of a woman. Bracey Clark also gives an instance in 



