MYIASIS OF WOUNDS 521 



case which occurred in Kansas, reported by Professor Snow, 

 was substantially as follows: The victim had been suffering 

 from nasal catarrh and was subject to offensive discharges. On 

 August 22 he complained of a peculiar sensation at the base of 

 the nose, followed by violent sneezing, and later by excruciating 

 pain in the region of the forehead back of the nose. On the 24th 

 there was a profuse discharge of offensive matter from nose and 

 mouth with a subsidence of pain, the discharge continuing three 

 days and amounting to 16 ounces, becoming almost pure pus with 

 particles of bone, blood, etc., in it. The odor was very offensive, 

 and coughing and fever developed, together with difficulty in 

 speech and swallowing. At this time a maggot dropped from 

 the nose, giving the first inkling of what the trouble was. The 

 worms continued to drop from the nostrils and mouth, burrowing 

 from under the soft palate and covering of the hard palate. 

 The palate was completely honeycombed, and in places patches 

 as large as a dime were entirely destroyed. The estimated 

 number of maggots which escaped during 48 hours was over 300. 

 The whole of the soft palate was destroyed by this time, and 

 the patient died four days after the emergence of the last worm. 

 Other Species. — Although the screw-worm is the species most 

 thoroughly addicted to breeding in wounds and natural cavities 

 of the human body, it is by no means alone in this nefarious 

 habit. The beautifully colored green-bottle fly, Ludlia ccesar, 

 and other species of Ludlia have this habit, and the common 

 blowflies, Calliphora vomitoria and C. erythrocephala, are sometimes 

 implicated. These ubiquitous pests are said to have been a 

 great torment to wounded soldiers in the Civil War. The red- 

 headed blowfly, C. erythrocephala, is recorded in one case as 

 having flown into the nostril of a woman to deposit its eggs. 

 A week later over 100 maggots passed out from nose and mouth, 

 leaving the nasal cavities and palate in a horribly mutilated 

 condition. Of the fleshflies, which are related to the Muscidae, 

 but are placed in a separate family, Sarcophagids, many, and 

 possibly all, will at least occasionally breed in wounds or natural 

 cavities of living bodies. 



A particularly troublesome species in Europe, especially in 

 Russia, where it is almost as much of a scourge as is the screw- 

 worm in America, is the fleshfly, Wohlfartia magnifica. In 

 Russia during hot weather this fly attacks the nose, ears, mouth, 



