296 TiMEHRI. 



In the above imperfe6t attempt at describing certain 

 Parasites, I have selefted those which are most common 

 to British Guiana and the Tropics. In most instances 

 our experiences here with regard to parasitic disease 

 correspond almost entirely with those so well-established 

 by observers in India. But there are one or two very 

 notable exceptions, whether absolutely true or not, I am 

 not yet prepared to say. Any writer on the Parasitic 

 Diseases of India remarks on the extreme frequency of 

 the occurrence of Tape-worm (Taenia solium and Taenia 

 mediocanellata) amongst all classes who partake of 

 animal food. Now our experience in British Guiana is 

 quite the contrary. I have only seen specimens of two 

 or three tape-worms since my connexion with the colony 

 and those had been found post-mortem in the bodies 

 of foreigners. Nor again do we find the various forms 

 of Parasitic Cysts, such as the larval form of Taenia 

 echinococcus or the Trichina spiralis, as existing in 

 British Guiana except on very rare occasions. I have 

 never yet heard of a case of Trichinosis as occurring in 

 this colony ; but, at the same time, I think it extremely 

 likely that it does occur occasionally, and to a greater 

 degree in all probability than any of us suspe6t; the 

 symptoms of the disease being enveloped in some 

 obscurity, it is very likely to be overlooked. That the 

 Guinea-worm is not nearly so common along our coast 

 line of British Guiana as in India, is most probably due to 

 differences in the nature of the soil. EwART states that 

 the prevalence of Guinea-worm is most commonly asso- 

 ciated with the existence of trap rocks. 



It is evident that the prophylaxis of Parasitic Disease 

 may be summed up by the words — siridl cleanliness. 



