228 
Animal  Parasites  in  Man. 
Am.  .lour.  Pharm^ 
May.  1901. 
TECHNIQUE   FOR   THE    RECOGNITION   OF  CERTAIN 
ANIMAL  PARASITES  IN  MAN. 
By  Iv.  Napoleon  Boston,  M.D. 
Bacteriologist  to  the  Philadelphia  Hospital,  Demonstrator  in  charge  of  Clinical 
Laboratory,  Medico-Chirurgical  College. 
Ancliylo stoma  Duodenale, — The  condition  produced  by  this  para- 
site, when  present  in  the  intestinal  canal  of  man,  is  known  as  brick- 
makers'  disease,  or  tropical  anaemia.  Ova  of  this  parasite  are 
found  in  the  feces  of  infected  pefsons,  and  their  detection  is  readily 
accomplished  in  the  following  manner :  To  a  small  portion  of  a 
recently  voided  stool,  sufficient  water  is  added  to  produce  a  cloudy 
liquid,  when  the  stool  and  water  are  thoroughly  mixed.  A  portion 
of  the  mixture  is  placed  into  a  test  tube  and  either  centrilugated,  or 
allowed  to  stand  for  a  few  hours.  A  portion  of  the  sediment  thus 
collected  at  the  bottom  of  the  tube  is  lifted  by  means  of  a  pipette, 
and  a  drop  of  it  placed  on  the  center  of  a  slide,  when  it  is  covered 
by  a  second  slide  or  a  large  coverglass.  The  specimen  is  now 
ready  for  examination  and  should  be  studied  under  a  lens,  where 
the  ova  appear  as  small,  round,  opalescent  bodies.  Individual  ova 
may  be  studied  under  a  higher  power  lens — A-  to  i  {Fig-  /)•  These 
ova  are  well  preserved  when  mounted  in  cast  medium1  or  in 
glycerine. 
Alter  the  administration  of  certain  drugs,  the  adult  worm  appears 
in  the  feces  as  a  silky,  slightly  curved  thread  (Fig.  i)  whose  color 
is  not  constant.  The  parasite's  detection  is  facilitated  by  adding 
water  to  the  feces  and  stirring  to  effect  a  perfect  mixture  which  is 
then  poured  into  a  clear  glass  dish  10  x  12  x  3  inches,  which  is 
then  set  on  either  a  light  or  dark  surface.  A  thin  spread  of  diluted 
feces  is  in  this  way  produced,  and  affords  a  favorable  field  upon  which 
to  find  the  parasite. 
The  adult  worms  you  see  in  the  small  bottle  have  been  pre- 
served in  70  per  cent,  alcohol.  These  specimens  shown  under  the 
microscopes,  were  first  placed  in  alcohol,  and  later  in  glycerin  for 
twenty-four  hours,  from  which  they  were  mounted  in  cast  medium. 
Glycerine  jelly  is  also  a  valuable  mounting  medium  for  animal 
parasites. 
The  anchylostoma  is  known  to  be  the  cause  of  a  large  percentage 
Formula  for  cast  medium,  Journal,  April,  1900. 
