G. A. Turner 
215 
spirits. Provided with a couple of kaffir pots and an old gun barrel, 
the native soon starts a very efficient distillery. The country abounds 
with vegetable products from which he can make spirits, the two 
commonest of which are, I think, the Cashew apple and the Manioca 
root. In consequence of the ease with which a native can obtain 
alcohol, he consumes, as stated, enormous quantities, and I think it 
may truly be said that, in certain seasons of the year, he is never 
properly sober. 
If we consider the other liver complaints from which the native 
suffers, viz. waxy disease or fatty degeneration, we find them to be above 
the normal, as shown in the following Table: 
TABLE VI. 
Table showing number of times the liver was found to be either waxy 
or fatty at 400 autopsies. 
Tribe 
Number examined 
Waxy 
Shangaan 
38 
4 
Myambaam 
64 
4 
Mtyopi 
24 
3 
Nyassa 
36 
1 
Mozambique 
180 
2 
Quilimane 
56 
1 
Beira 
2 
1 
Total 
400 
16 
Fatty 
3 
3 
0 
1 
6 
3 
0 
16 
I do not think that it has been suggested that Bilharziosis is 
responsible for either of these conditions. 
The trematode itself is not found most frequently in the cirrhotic 
livers, as, out of a hundred consecutive autopsies, fourteen showed a 
cirrhotic condition of the liver, and in these the worms could only be 
found twice, whereas they were found twenty-four times in the remaining 
livers, which were either normal or merely congested. This feature 
may be due to the fact that the cirrhotic liver has often very little 
blood in it, consequently it is difficult to express the worms. And it is 
also possible that the worms only stay in the liver when in an immature 
state, therefore not laying eggs; that at maturity they seek other 
spheres, and the eggs then laid are carried back to the liver and set up 
the cirrhotic condition. 
I am not in a position to speak too definitely on this matter, but the 
number of ova found in the liver tissues does not appear to be sufficient 
to warrant the conclusion that they are responsible for the cirrhosis. 
