ANIMAL PARASITES OF MAN. 205 



Eizal Province, Luzon, and one from Nagasaki, Japan. Five of the 

 prisoners having pisthorchis infections were Chinese, five were Filipi- 

 nos, and one was Japanese. 



The results for Opistorchis are not sufficiently complete to show any 

 marked inequality of distribution among different localities. However, 

 there does appear a relatively greater prevalence of this parasite among the 

 Chinese. In one case it was certain that the infection was contracted in 

 China, but in the other instances this jjoint could not definitely be 

 determined. 



INFECTIONS WITH HYMENOLEPIS. 

 (0.1 per cent.) 



Four of the five infections with Hymenolepis were with the "dwarf 

 tapeworm" of man, H. nana; the remaining one was with H. diminuta. 



Statistics by several authors show that the dwarf tapeworm is consist- 

 ently more common among children than among adults, and therefore 

 we would expect our figures to be somewhat higher for this parasite had 

 children been included among the cases examined. 



DISCUSSION. 



The purpose of the investigation, as was stated in the introduction, 

 was to obtain accurate knowledge of the prevalence and distribution of 

 animal parasites among the Filipinos so as to secure more definite judg- 

 ment regarding the importance of animal parasites as factors in deter- 

 mining the hygienic and industrial condition of the people, and to 

 obtain a clearer idea in regard to the nature and magnitude of the 

 medical and sanitary problems presented and, perhaps, also to make 

 some contribution toward their solution. 



The results of this investigation show one of the most striking in- 

 stances in the history of medicine of a population almost universally 

 infested with animal parasites; and the medical and sanitary problems 

 presented would seem to offer three rather distinct aspects, namely, 

 the infections with intestinal protozoa, chiefly Amoeba, the trematode 

 infections, and the infections with intestinal worms. 



The situation in the Philippines in regard to amcebiasis is involved 

 in differences of opinion both as to the specific identity of Amoeba found 

 in the intestine and to their pathogenicity. Whether or no the validity 

 of Schaudinn's Entamoeba histolytica and E. coli and the nonpathogenic 

 nature claimed for the latter species be ultimately established, we are 

 forced to believe, as we have already indicated, that in our present 

 state of knowledge the only safe position for the medical man to hold in 



