&) Soa 
{Nov.1,. 
ACCOUNT or tHe DISEASES 1s LONDON, 
From the 20th of September to the 20th of OGtover. 
Admitted under the Care of the Phyjficians of the Finfoury Difpenfary. 
eR 
. No. of Cafes. flat, and rounded at its end. Heach ach, 
MORBI Tnfantiles a3 = 39 lofs of ftrength- and fleth ; pains of the 
Hemoptyfis - - 7 abdomen; a fenfe of weight, and fome- 
Dyfenteria - - - iI times of a’roliing ball, give fearful warn- 
Diarrhea Sean? . ~ 45 ing, that this mifchievous animal has 
Sha ci Af ‘ x ® taken up its refidence in the interior of the 
| Rea Sea #] 3 i we human frame. Fe is generally found to 
jy ae: i Piet alti " oc. inhabit the {mall intettines 5 very rarely, 
pe adi ¢ ¢ indeed, the larger ; and is ufually attached 
Cveanche Tracheakis ul _ 33 to theinternal coat, by meansef a minute 
Scorbutus Y i - 13 _heoked procefs from the mouth, while the 
Dy{pepfia ‘ a Spa ae reft of its body is twifted in the form ofa | 
Scai latina ee . - 19. fmall bundle or balk. To eliminate it from 
Tuflis i us - 28% uch a fituation mutt obvioufly require the 
Paralyfis - ee * 6 application of remedies which powertully 
Ay fteria = Z -  ¥9 excite the ation of the inteftinces ; or me- 
Epilepfia - 5 - ‘21 chanically dettroy, or operate as a fpecifie 
Infantile difeafes, in this laft month, as 
in almoit every other, conftitute an impor- 
fant proportion of the periodical cata- 
logue. Such complaints, for the moft 
part, originate from a fou! anid morbid 
ttate of the intettinal canal, by which 
there is commonly generated fome one or 
‘other of the various fpecies of worms. As 
this is a fubje&, that has not been touched 
upon in the paft feries of thefe Reports, it 
may be worth while to fay fomething con- 
cerning it in the vrefent article. 
The worms that are particularly apt to 
infeft the human inteftines may be divided 
into four genera—Tznia, Lumbricus, 
Afcaris, and Fafciola. In their form, 
and in the part of the canal which they 
ufually inhabit, they differ confiderably 
from each other. The Tenia iata is the 
moft noxious of the tribe, both on account 
of the extravagant length to which it will 
gradually extend itfelf, and likewife of the 
obftinate refifiance, which it too frequent-. 
ly exhibits to every medicinal experiment, 
which the perplexed phyfician can devile 
for its evacuation. . 
This fpecies fometimes grows to an al- 
moft incredible longitude: Specimens of 
30, 40, 50, 100, and even upwards 
of 200 feet have been met with, or, at 
Jeaft, have been recorded in the memorials 
of medical authors. 
“This reptile appears to be compofed of 
a great number of fmall parts grooved 
into each, and cloathed with a {mooth thin 
fkin, of a whitifh colour. The body is 
deprefied, and decreafes gradually towards 
both of the extremities, with a head {mall, 
s 
poifon, to the hottile intruder. 
The coarfe powder of tin-filings, ad- 
miniftered in treacle, to the amount of 
half an ounce, or double that quantity, 
has proved fuccefsful in feveral inftances, 
when it has been perfevered in for a few 
days, and followed by a vigorous cathar- 
tic. 
The utility cf this medicine evidently 
depends upon its mechanical operation, © 
and not in the flighteft degree upon any 
peculiar power it poflefles in poifoning the 
worms, orin deftroying their noxious pro- 
perty. - 
The root of the male ‘fern has been of — 
late much extolled. It was firft tried, 
about fixty or feventy years ago, by Ma- 
dame Noufer; fince that time it has been 
frequently adminiftered, and, in various 
inffances, with the molt flattering and fa- 
tisfactory fuceefs. A drachm or two of 
the powder, recently dried, ought to be 
given tothe patient,and afterwards be fuc- 
ceeded, in a few hours, by a ftrong dofe 
of calomel, which, if the worms are not 
in the mean time evacuated, fhould be re- 
peated on every following day, until that 
falutary effect 1s produced, This advice 
ought invariably to be attended to, as it 
is often found that fragments only of the 
Tenia are expelied, whilft many of their 
infant progeny {till perfilt to create a mor- 
bid irritation in the inteftinal canal. 
Worms often give rife, efpecially ia chil- 
dren, to fits of epilepfy. This has been 
demonftrated by the prattiee of the Re- 
porter,who in confequence of adminifering 
meiely vermifuge remedies in efficient 
dotfes, 
