EDITORIAL. 
575 
been  in  the  business  over  13  years,)  and  in  returning  to  the  store  I  took  a  bot- 
tle of  vermifuge  without  any  benefit.  One  week  afterwards  I  took  two  bot- 
tles at  a  dose  ;  it  relieved  me  for  about  two  weeks.  Then  I  took  large  doses 
of  calomel  followed  by  castor  oil ;  they  only  furnished  temporary  relief ; 
consulted  several  of  the  best  doctors  ;  one  recommended  injections  five  or 
six  times  a  day,  all  without  relief;  in  fact,  up  to  1854,  I  consulted,  I  sup- 
pose, thirty  different  M.  D.s  showed  them  the  worms,  which  had  increased 
to  such  an  extent  that  they  would  pass  off  in  my  pants.  Some  days  I 
suppose  I  passed  forty  about  an  inch  long  ;  some  days,  perhaps,  not  more 
than  twelve.  The  latter  part  of  1854,  in  having  a  passage,  I  had  a  queer 
feeling  at  the  anus,  and  I  found  a  worm  had  made  his  appearance.  I  com- 
menced pulling,  and  pulled  until  I  fainted  away  with  fright,  (and  I  am  not 
easily  frightened,)  but  I  caved  that  time,  sure.  When  I  came  to,  I  found 
my  hand  filled  with  I  didn't  know  what,  but  I  again  pulled,  until  I  could 
pull  no  more.  I  pulled  much  harder  and  it  broke.  I  did  it  up  in  a  news- 
paper, took  it  to  the  store  (we  had  an  M.  D.  at  the  store)  and  learnt  that 
it  was  a  tape  worm.  I  washed  it,  then  measured  it,  found  it  to  be  32  feet ; 
it  seemed  very  elastic.  I  think  by  a  little  pulling  it  would  have  measured 
40  feet.  I  preserved  it  in  alcohol,  and  I  suppose  it  is  still  in  my  old  store 
in  San  Francisco.  This  did  not  decrease  the  passing  of  worms  in  my 
clothes.  In  1855  I  started  for  New  York,  via  Nicaragua,  per  steamer 
Cortes,  (on  other  side,)  steamer  Northern  Light  on  this  side  ;  we  stopped  at 
Key  West  to  coal.  We  got  in  a  little  before  daylight,  and  about  daybreak 
I  had  an  operation  on  the  beach.  I  again  found  it  to  be  principally 
worms.  I  examined  it,  and  it  was  between  eighteen  and  twenty-five  feet  in 
length,  all  one  piece.  Persons  troubled  with  tape  worms  are  generally 
great  eaters  ;  this,  Mr.  Editor,  was  not  the  case  with  me  ;  my  friend  seemed 
to  want  only  liquid  stimulants  ;  some  days  I  would  drink  twenty  glasses 
of  brandy  and  water,  the  average  of  brandy  about  three  ounces  to  the  drink, 
and  be  perfectly  sober  all  day,  (at  the  present,  six  such  drinks  would  keep 
me  drank  all  day  long.)  The  last  worm,  of  course,  I  had  no  chance  of 
preserving.  I  got  to  New  York,  went  west,  from  thence  south  to  New 
Orleans,  took  a  clerkship  in  a  drug  store,  (all  the  while  having  daily  and 
nightly  passages  of  that  disagreeable  friend).  I  consulted  some  of  the 
best  M.  D.s  of  New  Orleans  ;  one,  after  several  different  treatments,  with- 
out any  favorable  result,  recommended  the  great  remedy  (described  in 
Pereira's  works)  called  Cusso  or  Kousso.  I  used  two  ounces,  but  with  no 
relief.  I  could  not  keep  from  drinking  my  regular  quantity  of  liquor  every 
day.  The  latter  part  of  1856  I  left  New  Orleans  and  came  to  New  York, 
and  took  a  clerkship  where  I  could  not  go  out  and  get  drinks  when  I  required 
them.  I  was  often  obliged  to  take  a  drink  of  Tr.  Gent.  Comp.,  Tr.  Co- 
lombo, &c. ;  also  other  bitter  tinctures  ;  the  alcohol  they  contained  seemed 
to  satiate  my  appetite.  I  now  found  when  I  drank  these  tonics,  that  the 
worms  passed  much  more  frequently.  I  again  consulted  another  physi- 
cian ;  he  recommended  half  an  ounce  of  turpentine,  followed  by  castor  oil, 
which  relieved  me  for  about  a  week  (I  repeated  the  dose  three  successive 
days).  I  had  about  given  up  that  my  case  could  not  be  cured,  when  one 
evening  I  argued  the  matter  with  myself,  and  I  thought  of  treating  the 
case  mechanically.  I  will  give  you  my  process,  which  has  succeeded,  at 
least  this  is  my  opinion,  it  being  a  little  over  six  months  since  I  parted 
with  my  old  companion  (I  call  him  so,  he  having  been  with  me  about  seven 
years).  I  made  up  two  gallons  Tr.  Gent.  Co.,  and  Tr.  Colombo,  (one 
gallon  of  each,  then  mixed,)  U.  S.  Dispensatory.  Drank  it  when  I  wanted 
stimulants,  perhaps  eight  to  twelve  drinks  per  day,  from  two  to  three 
ounces  per  drink,  (eat  scarcely  anything  but  a  little  soup)  j  at  the  end  of  a 
week  I  found  the  worm  was  getting  sick  of  his  diet.  They  passed  off  quite 
freely.    Now  I  took  a  sixteen  ounce  syringe,  filled  it  with  warm  milk  and 
