101 
SYMPTOMATOLOGY . 
S}^mptoms were absent in practically all the cases; in one case there 
was said to be a decline in health and in another there was a diarrhea 
of three months’ standing, which, however, was not cured by the 
expulsion of the parasite. 
JDIAG^^^OSIS. 
The diagnosis rests upon the discovery of fragments of the worm or 
its eggs in the feces. 
TREATMENT. 
Almost any vermifuge seems to be sufficient to expel the parasite. 
A simple cathartic has caused its expulsion, and in one case the worm 
was passed without medicine. 
PROPHYEAXTS. 
Prophylaxis against H. diminuta consists in avoiding the ingestion 
of any of the various insects which may act as intermediate hosts, (1) 
by following the general rule of cleanliness with regard to what is 
placed in the mouth, (2) by keeping food protected from insects, 
especially the larv^e of Asopia farincdis^ and (3) the •destruction of 
rats and mice, and of the insects concerned, especially the meal moth, 
which in its larval stages is common about dwellings. 
The Lanceolate Tapeworm— HYMENOLEPIS LANCEOLATA (Bloch, 1782) 
Weinland, 1858. , 
HISTORICAL REVIEW. 
This tapeworm has long been known as a parasite of geese and 
ducks, but only recently has it been found in man. An epidemic of 
intestinal helminthiasis among geese in 1710 in Germany reported by 
Frisch (1727b) has been attributed to this form. Bloch (1779a), 
according to Rudolphi (1810, p. 81), refers to the worm under the 
name Tsenia anseris. Pallas (1781) associated the worm under con- 
sideration with others from rabbits and fishes, and placed them in a 
single species, which he called Tsenla acutisslma. In 1782 Bloch pub- 
lished the first distinctive description and figures (figs. 108, 109) of 
the worm, calling it Tsenla lanceolata. Goeze (1782a) shortly after- 
wards described and figured it (fig. 110) under the same name. Since 
then it has been commonly found in the European countries hy vari- 
ous authors, but apparently has never been recorded for America. 
Only one ,case of Ilymenolepis lanceolata in man has been reported, 
and that case was in Europe (Zschokke, 1902a, b). It is, therefore, a 
rare parasite of man, and is not very likely to be encountered in this 
countiy. 
