SCIENCE. 



299 



It has been objected that a prohibition would deprive 

 the working class of a large quantity of cheap meat ; an- 

 other objection is the hinderance to commerce. These rea- 

 sons do not appear valid to us, if there be real danger for 

 the public health, and if there be, as we have said, and as 

 the experiments of M. Chatin show still, living trichina; 

 in American hams. The danger resides especially in the 

 use of strings preserved in brine, which enter into the 

 composition of pig's cheese and of sausages and hashes 

 of all kinds, such as the pork- 

 seller delivers them, that is to 

 say, always imperfectly cook- 

 ed. 



It is possible that a person 

 may partake of trichinated 

 meat, before its contamina- 

 tion has been noticed, and if 

 a case of trachinosis be not 

 remarked, it is only because 

 the diagnostic of the disease 

 is but little known, and has 

 no positive character. Wait- 

 ing until the labors of Ger- 

 man physicians, which are 

 but little spread in France, 

 enlighten us on the symp- 

 toms of this affection, we 

 deem it useful to examine 

 under the microscope the 

 faeces of those suffering from 

 typhoid fever, in order to find 

 out whether, under the cover 

 of this malady, there is not, 

 as often happens, a case in 

 point of trichina; eliminating 

 themselves in part by this 

 way. — La Nature. 



Fig. 3 — Portion of Trichinous Meat as Seen Undtr the Micro- 

 scope, Magnified 140 Diameters. A. A. A. Muscular Fibres — 

 B. B. Encysted Tkichinve. C. C. Cyste. D. D. D. Fat Globules. 



TRICHINOSIS. 



Dr. E. C. Wendt presented to the New York Patho- 

 logical Society, April 13th, specimens illustrating Trichi- 

 nosis. The sl'des under the microscope showed muscu- 

 lar trichinae in a free state. They exhibited different 

 degrees of parasitic development, although they were all 

 taken from the same woman. The infested muscles 

 were obtained from a recent fatal case of the disease 

 which had occurred in Ho- 

 boken. For the history of 

 the case he was indebted to 

 Dr. W. T. Kudlich of that 

 city. The whole course of 

 the malady, from the initial 

 enteric symptoms through a 

 typhoid stage with intense 

 muscular pains to the lethal 

 terminatiou, was so typical 

 that the detailed clinical ac- 

 count of this case might be 

 omitted. It should be stated, 

 however, that shortly after the 

 young robust wife fell ill, 

 the husband also took to his 

 bed with well-marked symp- 

 toms of trichinosis. In view 

 of the present agitation of 

 the public mind over the 

 wholesale prohibition of Am- 

 erican pork by the Continen- 

 tal powers, it might be of 

 interest to remember that in 

 the present instance the dis- 

 ease was unmistakably traced 

 to a home product. The 

 living parasites were used for 



