158 The Philippine Journal of Science ma 



uals, as, for instance, the male prisoners in Bilibid Prison, the 

 present series includes all cases autopsied within a year with 

 the exceptions already noted. There were 353 males and 147 

 females; 116 were below the age of fifteen and 384 were above 

 this age. 



The autopsy service from which this report is compiled in- 

 cludes persons dying in a large general hospital, in a hospital 

 for contagious diseases, in a large prison hospital, and those 

 who were the subjects of medico-legal investigations in the city 

 of Manila. The overwhelming majority of these cases are Fili- 

 pinos, but the list also includes Americans, Europeans, Chinese, 

 Japanese, and East Indians. The findings embodied in this 

 report are not based on any special investigation conducted 

 with the view to determine the absolute incidence of intestinal 

 parasites, but have been compiled from the routine autopsy 

 records which are on file. 



In as far as our report attempts to be statistical, its inter- 

 pretation should be made with certain restrictions. While, as 

 above indicated, the class of cases on which it is based is more 

 comprehensive than some of the series of cases previously in- 

 vestigated in the Islands as to age, sex, and distribution, the 

 fact that a large percentage of these cases comes from a hospital 

 where routine treatment for intestinal parasites is in vogue 

 may diminish the number of parasites found post mortem and 

 somewhat invalidate the percentage values. Also, the readiness 

 with which Ascaris is recognized on account of its size and the. 

 difficulty encountered in detecting the smaller Trichuris, hook- 

 worm, and Oxyuris may have some bearing on the subject in 

 as much as the autopsies were not performed with this investi- 

 gation in view. Routine microscopic examination of the fseces 

 for ova has not been performed by us. 



The pathogenicity of some of the intestinal parasites has been 

 the subject of so much discussion and the conclusions which 

 have been accepted are based on such uncertain grounds that 

 reports will be included here of certain cases where definite 

 pathological conditions have been found, which in some cases 

 certainly bear relation to the infesting parasite and in other 

 cases may with a certain amount of probability be definitely 

 associated with them. 



The situation with regard to the influence of the parasites 

 on the human host is stated by Braun (8) as follows : 



In a great many cases we are not in a position to state anything regard- 

 ing any marked influence exercised by the parasite on the organism and 

 on the conditions of life of the host. Most animals and many persons 

 exhibit no signs of such influence. As a general rule, the parasite, which 



