POROCEPHALOSIS 325 



protective. A " clip in the briny" witJi one's clothes on before com- 

 mencing a march is sufficient in most cases. 



Cotton wool soaked in 30 per cent, cocaine applied to the parasite 

 will paralyse it and cause it to drop off, but if the leech is in the larynx 

 the patient must be held with the head downwards or the leech will drop 

 into the trachea. 



Leeches should not be removed forcibl}-. 



The gastric juice is said to kill them. 



Leeches are not known to carrv disease. 



POROCEPHALOSIS. 



There are twenty known species of Porocephalus, two of which 

 occur in man. They belong to the parasitic Arachnoidea and Lingua- 

 tulida. 



They have elongated vermiform bodies and a continuous coelom. 



The female is 9 to 12 cm. long, the male 3 to 4*5 cm. long by 2 to 

 4 mm. broad, with twenty-six to thirt\' rings. 



They are commonly found in the nasal cavities and lungs of pythons 

 and snakes. The eggs probably pass from these reptiles into water and 

 thence into man. These eggs develop into larvae and nymphas which 

 may then become encysted in the lungs or the liver of man, or thev 

 may move freely in the small intestine and even, at times, enter the 

 peritoneal cavity. 



The P. armillatus and the P. moniliformis affect man. The\' are a 

 bright lemon yellow colour when fresh. 



DISTRIBUTION. 



The P. armillatus is found in Africa only. Chiefly in Egvpt, West 

 Coast and the Congo. 



The P. moniliformis is found in Ja\a, Philippines and India. 



PATHOLOGY. 



The larvae are found coiled up in cysts of the liver and lungs. 



Here they become nymphfe, leave the cysts and wander about the 

 body . 



They may pass into the lungs causing bronchitis or broncho- 

 pneumonia. 



Or into the peritoneal cavity causing peritonitis. 



Or into the intestinal tract causing diarrhoea. 



SYMPTOMATOLOGY. 



The distinctive symptoms are not appreciated until they become 

 terminal. Then one has emaciation and weakness associated with an 



