72 
HUMAN INTESTINAL PROTOZOAL AND HELMINTHIC 
INFECTIONS OBSERVED IN MALTA. 
By THOMAS BENTHAM, B.Sc. (Oxon.), M.Sc. (Durh.)\ f 
Lieutenant, attached R.A.M.C. 
(A REPORT TO THE MEDICAL RESEARCH COMMITTEE ) 
The following observations are the result of two years’ examination of the 
stools of patients invalided to and stationed in Malta. The patients may be 
» roughly divided for convenience into four groups: 
(1) Troops sent straight from the Salonika Hospitals to Malta. This 
section comprised the bulk of the total number of troops examined, 
and included a few men from Egypt. 
(2) Garrison Troops—some not patients—including both British and 
Maltese. With these are included a few British and Maltese Civilians, 
connected in some way or another with the Army. 
(3) Troops on their way out from England or France. These were mostly 
Indians and Chinese, who were put off transport at Malta owing to 
disability. 
(4) Prisoners of War interned in Malta. 
Altogether 7323 examinations were made of 3370 individual cases. 
1 The author of this paper, the late Lieut. T. Bentham, returned to England at the beginning 
of 1919, after spending two years in Malta as Protozoologist attached to the R.A.M.C. During 
his stay in the Island he made many interesting and new observations upon the protozoal and 
helminthic infections occurring in British troops, natives, and others. As these observations 
appeared to us to be well worthy of publication, Lieut. Bentham, at our suggestion, undertook I 
to write a report embodying his findings; but, to our deep sorrow, before its completion he fell a 
victim to the influenza epidemic which prevailed at the beginning of this year. Nevertheless, his 
unfinished work was found to contain the greater part of his results; and it seemed to us that, in¬ 
complete though it was, it recorded observations which ought to be preserved by publication. 
We have therefore revised his manuscript, to the best of our ability, and charged ourselves with 
the responsibility of seeing it through the press, as a tribute to the memory of our friend. We would 
note, however, that the conclusions and opinions recorded in the paper are those of the author 
himself, expressed in his own words; and that our editorial activities have been strictly limited 
to the silent correction of obvious slips and errors in the manuscript, and to the elimination of > 
those ambiguities and repetitions inevitable in a report which was merely an unfinished and un¬ 
revised first draft. We are indebted to the author’s father, the Rev. T. Bentham, and to his sister, 
Miss Margaret Bentham, for enabling and helping us t£> put this work on record. 
Clifford Dobell. 
A. C. Stevenson. 
