PARASITES OF ANIMALS. 117 
hundred or more persons, should they eat it raw or but slightly 
cooked. 
Cases of Trichiniasis. 
Since 1860 thousands of cases have been observed and hun- 
dreds of deaths are known to have occurred, especially in 
Germany, where the custom of eating various forms of raw 
or imperfectly cooked pork is much more common than in 
this country. At Hettstadt, in 1868, the flesh of one pig in- 
fected one hundred and thirty-five persons, of whom twenty 
died. Several other similar “‘ epidemics” have also occurred 
in the same country. In the United States, many sad cases 
have also been recorded, as the following instances will show: 
At Marion, lowa, May, 1866, Mr. Bemis and eight mem- 
bers of his family ate rare-done and raw ham, and were im- 
mediately taken sick. Upto June 3d, three had died, and 
others were considered critical. A post-mortem examination 
showed about two hundred thousand worms to acubic inch of 
muscle in one of those who died. 
At Dubuque, Iowa, according to Dr. Asa Horr, two families 
were attacked. In one five persons died ; in the other, five 
or six. Through him we also learn of a case where the 
mother of a family ate of the interior, rare-done part of a 
ham and took the disease, while those who ate the outside 
escaped. 
At Springfield, Mass., February, 1867, Mr. Ransley Hall 
and family ate of raw ham, and all seven were attacked in 
various degrees, according to the amount eaten. A daughter, 
aged seventeen, died, and the father had along and very 
dangerous illness. 
At Albany, N. Y., January, 1869, two boys ate of raw ham 
and were infected ; the rest of the family ate of the same 
ham, when cooked, and escaped. 
At Rome, Oneida County, N. Y., December, 1868, Mr. 
John Wilbrecht and family, nine persons in all, ate raw 
smoked and dried sausages. All were dangerously sick, and 
four adults, the father, son, and two daughters died before 
January 15th. Their sausages and salt pork were examined 
and found to be full of Zrichine, as were also the muscles of 
those wh died. Digitized by Microsoft® 
