120 REPORT— 1864. 



of fluke- worm, discoTered in Egypt, liad been brought to this country ; and if it 

 became acclimatized, it would be difficult of extermination. Eggs and living 

 si^ecimens had been found in this coimtry, both in men and monkeys, but only to 

 a very small extent. He was the fu'st to discover it in the monkey. As to the 

 little thread-worm, he had never been able to rear it in apples and pears ; and 

 there was no evidence to show that any species of entozoa was derivable from 

 fruit. It was not likely that fruit was ever an intermediate habitation for any of 

 the parasites which ordinarily occupied the human body. A great many evils in 

 children were charged to eating imripe fruit ; but, as far as entozoa were con- 

 cerned, that fear was entirely groimdless. With regard to celery, cabbages, and 

 all the ordinary market-garden vegetables, he might say that all decomposing 

 animal and vegetable matter sustained entozoa ; and the more filthy the water or 

 liquid manure employed to secm-e the fertility of the garden, the more likely were 

 entozoa to be supplied with the vegetables gi-o'WTi upon the land. The most care- 

 ful washing was therefore desirable. Parasitic larvfe might be found in water that 

 was, to all appearance, perfectlj^ pure ; but, speaking generally, spring-water was 

 perfectlj' innocuous. The same thing coidd not be said of water stored in large 

 tanks in hot climates. The people of these islands sufiiered from entozoa, which 

 must be introduced by drink in some fonn or other. The presence or absence of 

 the larva3 of human entozoa in water was dependent upon the place from whence 

 the supply came, and upon the condition of the water. The pork measle might 

 be readily conmiunicated to himian beings in this way, and it was apt to ensconce 

 itself in the brain, causing death, which the Registrar- General invariably set down 

 to cerebral disease. The way in which it reached the brain was from the coats of 

 the stomach, through the circulating medium. There was one kind inhabiting 

 dogs, which was often communicated to the human being. One-sixth of all per- 

 sons who died in Iceland perished from a little creature so small that, in its adult 

 state, it could scarcely be seen. If neither dog nor wolf existed, we should get rid 

 of these species altogether. No one need drink water impregnated with these 

 entozoa. Water to which dogs had no access could not contain them ; neither 

 were they likely to be found in spring or well water. Open waters into which the 

 carcases of dogs were occasionally thrown would probably contain them, and the 

 eggs might be carried to food washed in such water. The danger would be got 

 rid of if the water was always carefully boiled, filtered, or distilled ; but a filter, 

 to be effectual, ought not to pass nnything larger than one-thousandth of an inch. 

 Sand iind charcoal filters were of verj' little use. Paper filters shoidd be em- 

 ployed. All entozoa not preserved for scientific experiments should be destroyed 

 by fire, and under no circumstances should they be thrown aside as harmless 

 refuse ; and he would press upon butchers, knackers, and others not to throw 

 doubtful oft'al to dogs. Then as to beer, porter, iSrc. All he need say with regai-d 

 to these fermented drinks was that he believed them perfectly harmless. Even 

 though impure waters shoidd have been employed, the boiling of the wort woidd 

 be alone sufficient to destroy any number of parasites. Unfortunately, we cannot 

 be perfectly certain about unfermented drinks, such as ginger beer, lemonade, and 

 the like. All must depend upon the source and the supply of water. They might, 

 however, conclude that the manufacturer got his supply from the purest source 

 open to him, and that, therefore, we need be under little or no apprehension. In 

 regard to wines, the same remarks were applicable. Alcohol, added to water, was 

 sufficient to destroy the parasitical eggs ; but he questioned whether the amount 

 of spirit in our home-made wines was sufficient for the pui-pose. 



Valves in the Abdominal Veins. By Edwaeds Ceisp, M.D. 

 Up to 1852, the author said, all physiologists had denied the presence of valves 

 in the abdominal veins, when he discovert d them in the Giraffe ; since this period 

 he had found them in the splenic, mesenteric, and renal veins of many animals. 

 So nmnerous were they in some mammals, that the left renal vein of the Nylghau 

 {S. pictci), which was exhibited, contained ten valves, two single and four pairs. 

 It was thought by the author that the presence of these valves in the splenic and 

 gastric A'eins had an important bearing upon the origin of splenic apoplexy. The 

 author named fifty-fiye animals in which he had discovered yalyes in the abdo- 



