﻿98 The Philippine Journal of Science 1914 



consecutive negative examinations was positive in 1, or 14.3 

 per cent, and negative in 6, or 85.7 per cent. These results 

 indicate that more than 3 consecutive negative examinations must 

 be secured before a case may be said to be absolutely free from 

 entamoebse, provided 4 cover-glass preparations be examined 

 of each specimen. 



Insufficient examinations were made in a majority of our 

 cases; hence, for the sake of comparing the results obtained in 

 the several series of cases the arbitrary standard of two consec- 

 utive final negative examinations obtained actually and by 

 estimation^ (see Table VIII) is adopted. Two consecutive nega- 

 tive examinations are, however, a^ stated above, not sufficient 

 evidence of the absence of entamoeba from the intestinal tract. 



3. The personal equation. — The personal equation entering 

 into examinations must always be taken into consideration. It 

 may be safely assumed that entamoebse, although present, were 

 not discovered in some of our examinations. All of the labor- 

 atory work was, however, performed by the same person (Wil- 

 lets), so that the personal factor is constant in the several 

 groups of cases. 



4. The effect of rest and diet upon entamcebiasis. — That rest 

 and diet are factors which influence entamoebic dysentery is 

 proved by the histories of patients entering hospitals with 

 chronic entamoebic dysentery. A not uncommon history of such 

 a patient is the recurrence of dysentery at varying intervals 

 during a period of months or years, the individual attack having 

 subsided in response to rest, a modified diet, and perhaps a 

 simple purgative. Since these factors influence the clinical evi- 

 dences of entamoebiasis, are they not to be reckoned with in 

 the elimination of entamoebse from the intestinal tract? The 

 results obtained in our controls, which were chiefly surgical 

 cases, and hence at rest and upon a restricted diet for a part 

 of the period during which they were under observation, suggest 

 an affirmative answer to this question. 



5. Spontaneous symptomatic cure of entamoebic dysentery. — 

 While entamoebic dysentery may be acute or chronic, it is most 

 frequently of the chronic form, characterized by recurring dys- 

 enteric attacks. We may, therefore, expect to secure appar- 

 ently good clinical results in some instances with any method 

 of treatment. For example, among the 133 cases here consid- 

 ered, 29 entered the hospital with entamoebic dysentery, but 2, 



' The estimations were based on the percentage of cases that showed by 

 actual examination two consecutive negatives. 



