190 Oxyuris vermicularis 
(3) That the presence of threadworms may cause a catarrhal 
condition therein. 
(4) That infection of the appendix with threadworms causes pain 
which may simulate that of appendicitis. 
He states that 19 % of healthy appendices of children harbour 
0. vermicularis. Metchnikoff (1901) records a case of Trichocephalids 
in the appendix, and the same author describes three cases of appendi¬ 
citis which he holds were due to the presence of Ascaris lumbricoides. 
Girard (1901) also reports a case of appendicitis in which Trichocephalids 
were found attached to the mucosa of the appendix. Hamilton Russell 
(1901) records an interesting case of appendicular colic which he holds 
was due to the presence of 0. vermicularis in large numbers. The lumen 
of the appendix was dilated, the mucosa thickened and congested, and 
there was a considerable excess of lymphoid tissue. On inquiry, it was 
ascertained that all the children of the family were infected with thread¬ 
worms. Von Moty (1902) attempts to make a distinction between the 
characters of the lesions excited by the different varieties of parasites, 
and finds that Ascaris lumbricoides seems to be more often associated 
with gangrenous appendicitis, while Oxyuris and Trichocephalus lead to 
chronic inflammatory changes. 
Erdmann (1904) found threadworms in 4 out of 250 cases of 
appendicitis in children. In this case, however, it is probable that 
a thorough examination of the contents of the appendix under the 
microscope would have revealed a much higher percentage. 
Hoepfl (1904) in Germany found that cases of appendicitis showed 
21 % of the removed appendices to contain Oxyuris. 
Patterson (1906) found 0. vermicularis in 8 cases, and A. lumbricoides 
in 10 cases of diseased appendices. Sprengel (1906) gives Oppe’s figures 
—threadworms found six times in 60 cases of appendicitis—and those of 
Rostewsew, who found 0. vermicularis three times in the examination of 
163 normal appendices. 
Still (1909) records a case where 111 threadworms were found in 
a single appendix. In children between the ages of 2-12 years he found 
that 32 % were infected with Oxyuris, and that two-thirds of these 
worms were found in the appendix. 
Brumpt (1910), who is an authority on this subject, goes very fully 
into the question in his Precis de Parasitologie. He examined 800 
appendices obtained from autopsies at Paris, and found Oxyuris infection 
present in 3-5 % of the appendices. In the appendices of children the 
percentage was about four times as great, or roughly twice out of every 
