TREATMENT OF INTESTINAL ENTOZOA. Ill 



from the intestines, but did not destroy it ; whilst 

 many of the anthelmintics which are employed at 

 the present day have a toxic effect upon the parasite, 

 so that if its anterior portion is not expelled, tliis 

 is not of so much importance, as the vitality of the 

 worm will most probably have been lost. The taenia 

 can be expelled with less difficulty when the cucur- 

 bitini are detachable than at any other period. 



The principal medicines which are employed in 

 the treatment of the ascaris lumbricoides are semen- 

 contra, santonine, and calomel. These should be 

 given upon several days in succession, and their 

 action should be assisted by the administration of 

 purgatives. 



After the use of the anthelmintics for some few 

 days, we must judge by the presence or absence 

 of the lumbrici or of their ova m the evacuations 

 whether they have all been expelled, and whether we 

 should continue or leave off the remedies. There is 

 no reason to fear that fresh lumbrici will make their 

 appearance if tke patient is protected from the con- 

 ditions which are favourable to the transmission of 

 these entozoa. 



The indefinitely prolonged use of anthelmintics 

 with a view to the prevention of a recurrence of the 

 lumbrici is useless, and might become injurious, as is 

 also the case with regard to the other intestinal 

 entozoa ; it is consequently best to watch the state 

 of the patient for a time, so that a second course of 

 treatment may be resorted to, in the event of the 

 reappearance of the worms. 



When the tricocephah exist in the intestines, the 

 best method of procuring their removal is the joint 



