44 LECTURES. 



very unfortunate results following advice given and 

 based upon an incorrect or hasty diagnosis. I do 

 not now speak of those instances where one has 

 to deal with patients who, having been properly 

 treated for tapeworm, are still assured that they 

 are yet playing the part of host whilst no parasite 

 exists ; but I refer to cases where the patients have 

 been placed under treatment for tapeworm, where 

 no such worm or any other similar parasite ever 

 had any existence in the alimentary canal of such 

 persons. You, with the knowledge you have al- 

 ready acquired in hospital and dispensary practice, 

 may perhaps be inclined to smile at the bare possi- 

 bility of such mistakes being made; nevertheless 

 it is with stubborn facts, resting upon personal ex- 

 perience, that I have to deal, and it is to their 

 teachings that I would urgently invite your atten- 

 tion. Perhaps the most remarkable instance which 

 has come under my observation is the following : 

 CASB XXVI. G. A., a middle-aged lady, and 

 the wife of an officer residing in India, sought my 

 advice on the 9th of March, 1871. She informed 

 me that she had been suffering from the presence 

 of tapeworm throughout the past six years, and 

 for this disorder she had been treated by several 

 medical gentlemen. That their treatment had been 

 vigorous may be gathered from the fact that she 

 had taken kousso, male-fern, turpentine, and, I 

 believe, other remedies. She further assured me 



