ASPIDIUM ATHAMANTICUM. 1G9 



Dr. Pappe mentions the Ucomocomo-bark as an anthelmintic 

 used by the Zulu Caffres at Port Natal, which was particularly 

 employed for Tcenice. He refers to it as Aspidium athamanticum 

 of Kunze. It is probably identical with the Panna. As Prance 

 and England have had their Kousso-mania, Germany must also 

 go through its Panna-mania. For this remedy, which, according 

 to Dr. Berg (' Deutsche Klinik/ No. 46, 1856), is certainly an 

 Aspidium, perhaps A. athamanticum (Kunze), but probably not a 

 distinct species — A. Panna, as Dr. Lucanus of Quedlinburg, 

 thinks — we are indebted to a brother of Dr. Behrens, of Quedlin- 

 burg, who is living in Southern Africa. It has given rise to a 

 lively dispute, since Dr. Behrens called attention to this won- 

 derful remedy in No. 53 of the ' Berlin Nation alzeitung/ for the 

 11th of March, 1853. The ' Magdeburger Zeitung' for the year 

 1856 again sang the praises of this remedy, the origin of which 

 was kept to a certain extent in obscurity, and the ' Deutsche 

 Klinik ' for the 26th of July, 1856 (No. 30), reported that out of 

 90 cases, Dr. Behrens had expelled the. worms with the head in 

 83; that in two cases the worm was not found; twice nothing 

 was again seen of it ; and that the remedy produced no result 

 in three cases, because it was thrown up. At the same time the 

 remedy was sold at a price of three dollars, for a dose of ^iss at the 

 utmost, which ought certainly to have given a very fair profit. 



In the three cases in which I administered it, or saw it given, 

 it did not fulfil the expectations which one would form of so ex- 

 pensive a remedy. One patient took the remedy early on the 

 19th of February, 1856, and as no passage of the worm had taken 

 place at noon, he took a second dose, besides Panna clysters. 

 The Tcenia mediocanellata, from which this patient suffered, again 

 threw off proglottides on the 22d of November, 1856. The 

 worm was then expelled by my extract of pomegranate root. 

 A second patient suffered with two Teniae mediocanellata. 

 A drachm of the remedy and a Panna clyster brought to light 

 two Tania, completely broken up, in twelve hours ; on these, not- 

 withstanding careful examination, no head was to be found. 



A third patient, who suffered from T. solium, which is so 

 easily expelled by extract of pomegranate root, certainly lost 

 fragmentary series of segments, but without the head, which 

 would probably grow afterwards. 



But if any one wishes to employ this medicine, which scarcely 

 possesses any advantage over Aspidium Filix mas, unless it be its 



