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DIPTERA. ‘ee 
Schneiderian membrane, when they annoyed him greatly, and every effort was made 
on his part to expel them; but so soon as expelled no further trouble was manifested 
until another would get into the nostril. Every effort was made on my part to dis- 
cover them under the tissue, but the soft palate being destroyed to a great extent, 
and the palatine arch apparently lowered, it was with much difficulty that an 
examination could be made. The worms were evidently burrowing under the pala- 
tine fascia, as it presented a honeycombed appearance and in places patches were 
totally destroyed as large asa dime [18 mm.]. They continued to drop irom the 
mouth and nose, forced from the nostrils by the efforts of the patient, for the follow- 
ing forty-eight hours, during which time 227 were counted and the estimated num- 
ber exceeded 300. At this time tae whole of the soft palate was destroyed. The 
patient lived four days after the iast worm came away. 
‘T put five of the worms in dry earth, and in fourteen days from the time they 
dropped from the nostri] there hatched out three flies. 
‘‘Upon a very minute and careful examination after death I was sstouidala to 
find that all the tissue covering the cervical vertebrx, as far down as I could see by 
throwing the head back and compressing the tongue, was wholly destroyed and the 
vertebra exposed. The palatine bones broke with the slightest pressure of the finger. 
The os hyoides was destroyed and the nasal bones loose, only held in position by the 
superficial fascia. 
‘My own theory is that the fly deposited the eggs while the patient was asleep, 
probably the day previous to the peculiar sensation and sneezing first complained 
of. At that time they had acquired vitality enough to annoy him while in contact 
with the sound flesh. So soon as they came in contact with the unsound flesh, or 
that affected with the catarrh, being, as itmust have been, gangrenous, they gave no 
further trouble.” * * * 
In the Peoria (Ill.) Medical Monthly for February, 1883, Dr. Joshua Richardson, of 
Moravia, Iowa, has an article upon ‘‘ The Screw Fly and its Ravages,” from which 
I make the following extracts: 
‘While traveling in Kansas in the latter part of last August, a citizen of this place 
had the misfortune to receive while asleep a deposit of eggs from this fly. He had 
been troubled for years with catarrh, hence the attraction to the fly. He returned 
home a few days after the accident and shortly after began complaining of a bad 
cold. Growing rapidly worse, I was called to attend him. Monday, my first day, 
his appearance was that of a man laboring under a severe cold. Had slight con- 
gestion of the lungs, and moderate grade of fever. His nose seemed greatly swollen 
and he complained of a smarting, uneasy feeling in it, and general misery through 
the head. Gave him treatment to relieve the congestion and fever. Tuesday, saw 
him again. His nose and face were still more swollen, and in addition to the other 
symptoms he was becoming slightly delirious and complained a great deal of the 
intense misery and annoyance in his nose and head. A few hours after, I was sent 
for in haste with the word that something was in his nose. I found on examination 
amass of the larve of this fly (or ‘‘screw-worms,” as they are commonly called in the 
South) completely blocking up one nostril. On touching them they would instantly 
retreat en masse up the nostril. Making a 20 per cent solution of chloroform in 
sweet milk I made a few injections up both nostrils, which immediately brought 
away a large number, so that in a few hours I had taken away some 125 of them. 
By Wednesday evening erysipelas had begun, implicating the nose and neighboring 
portions of the face. Another physician was called. By continual syringing with 
a strong antiseptic solution of salycilate of soda, bicarbonate of soda, and carbolic 
acid we hoped to drown out the remaining larve. But they had by this time cut 
their way into so many recesses of the nose and were so firmly attached that we 
were unable to accomplish much. Finally we resorted to the chloroform injections, 
which immediately brought away a considerable number. Friday I was able to 
open up two or three canals that they had cut, extracting several more that had 
literally packed themselves, one after another, in these fistulous channels. His 
