THE WORMS 219 



vents the blood from coagulating (see page 367) rapidly; hence a 

 considerable loss of blood occurs from the wound after the worm 

 has finished its meal and gone to another part of the intestine. 



The cure of the disease is very easy; thymol, which weakens the 

 hold of the worm, being followed by Epsom salts. For years the 

 entire South undoubtedly has been retarded in its development 

 by this parasite, and hundreds of millions of dollars and, what 

 is more vital, thousands of lives, have been needlessly sacrificed. 



" The hookworm is not a bit spectacular : it doesn't get itself dis- 

 cussed in legislative halls or furiously debated in political campaigns. 

 Modest and unassuming, it does not aspire to such dignity. It is satis- 

 fied simply with (1) lowering the working efficiency and the pleasure of 

 living in something like two hundred thousand persons in Georgia and 

 all other Southern states in proportion ; with (2) amassing a death rate 

 higher than tuberculosis, pneumonia, or typhoid fever; with (3) stub- 

 bornly and quite effectually retarding the agricultural and industrial de- 

 velopment of the section ; with (4) nullifying the benefit of thousands of 

 dollars spent upon education; with (5) costing the South, in the course 

 of a few decades, several hundred millions of dollars. More serious and 

 closer at hand than the tariff; more costly, threatening, and tangible 

 than the Negro problem ; making the menace of the boll weevil laughable 

 in comparison it is preeminently the problem of the South." - - Atlanta 

 Constitution. 



Parasitic worms are of vital importance to mankind. Not 

 only do they levy a tax of death and illness on man himself, but 

 they destroy as well unestimated millions of dollars' worth of ani- 

 mals. Of the 2,000,000 persons infected with hookworm, 500,000 

 are wage earners (and this is a small estimate) ; their earnings at 

 $1.50 a day would amount to about $225,000,000 a year. If their 

 wage-earning capacity were decreased only 10 per cent, it is seen 

 that a loss of over $20,000,000 a year could be directly attributed 

 to this pest. 



Other Parasitic Worms. Some roundworm parasites live in 

 the skin, and others live in the intestines of the horse. Still others 

 are parasitic in fish and in insects, one of the commonest being 

 the hair snake, often seen in country brooks. 



