Myriapoda 133 



The majority of the cases relate to infestation of the nasal fossae, 

 or the frontal sinus, but intestinal infestation also occurs and there 

 is one recorded case of the presence of a species in Julus (fig. 13) in 

 the auditory canal of a child. 



In the nose, the myriapods have been known to live for months 

 and according to some records, even for years. The symptoms 

 caused by their presence are inflammation, with or without increased 

 flow of mucus, itching, more or less intense headache, and at times 

 general symptoms such as vertigo, delirium, convulsions, and the 

 like. These symptoms disappear suddenly when the parasites are 

 expelled. 



In the intestine of man, myriapods give rise to obscure symptoms 

 suggestive of infestation by parasitic worms. In a case reported by 

 Verdim and Bruyant (191 2), a child twenty months of age had been 

 affected for fifteen days by digestive disturbances characterized by 

 loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting. The latter had been partic- 

 ularly pronounced for three days, when there was discovered in the 

 midst of the material expelled a living myriapod of the species 

 Chcetechelyne vesuviana. Anthelminthics had been administered 

 without result. In some of the other cases, the administration of 

 such drugs had resulted in the expulsion of the parasite through the 

 anus. 



One of the extreme cases on record is that reported by Shipley 

 (1914). Specimens of Geophilus gorizensis {= G. suhterraneus) 

 'were vomited and passed by a woman of 68 years of age. Some of 

 the centipedes emerged through the patient's nose, and it must be 

 mentioned that she was also suffering from a round worm. One of 

 her doctors was of the opinion that the centipedes were certainly 

 breeding inside the lady's intestines, and as many as seven or eight, 

 sometimes more, were daily leaving the alimentary canal." 



"According to her attendant's statements these centipedes had 

 left the body in some hundreds during a period of twelve or eighteen 

 months. Their presence produced vomiting and some hsmatemesis, 

 and treatment with th3rmol, male-fern and turpentine had no effect 

 in removing the creatures." 



The clinical details, as supplied by Dr. Theodore Thompson were 

 as follows : 



"Examined by me July, 191 2, her tongue was dry and glazed. 

 There was bleeding taking place from the nose and I saw a living 

 centipede she had just extracted from her nostril. Her heart, lungs 



