FILARIA MEDINENSIS 



in Syngamus trachealis, 1 

 and that the males die 

 after copulation. 



Occurrence. Filaria me- 

 dinensis has been known 

 since the most remote 

 period. The " fiery ser- 

 pents " that molested the 

 Israelites by the Red Sea, 

 and which Moses men- 

 tioned, were probably 

 filariae. The term &.pa.K6vTtoi> 

 already occurs in Aga- 

 tharchides (140 B.C.). 



Galen called the disorder dracontiasis ; the Arabian 

 authors were well acquainted with the worm. It 

 is found not only in Medina or Arabia, but also 

 in Persia, Turkestan, Hindostan. The Medina worm 

 is also widely distributed in Africa, on the coasts 

 as well as in the interior. (The English term is 

 Guinea worm.-) It was carried to South America 

 by negro slaves, but is said to have again dis- 

 appeared thence ; it is also frequently observed in 

 mammals (ox, horse, dog, leopard, jackal, Canis 

 lupaster, &c ). 



FIG. 194 (a). Anterior 

 extremity of Guinea worm. 

 Alter Leuckart. 



FIG. 194 (&). Transverse section of female Guinea 

 worm ; u., uterus containing embryos ; i., intestinal 

 canal ; o., ovary. After Leuckart. 



FIG. 194. Guinea 

 worm (Filaria medi- 

 nensis). After Leuck- 

 art. 



1 The confirmation of this opinion can be seen in an observation of Neumann, 

 who, in the connective tissue of Python natalensis, found the males as well as the con- 

 siderably larger females of Filaria dahomensis ; the males, apparently after copulation, 

 finally die off and become calcified (Bull. soc. zool., France, 1895, xx., p. 123). 



