FILARIA SANGUINIS HOMINIS

In 1872, Dr T. R. Lewis, in examining microscopically the blood and urine of some of his patients in India, discovered a worm enveloped in an extremely delicate tube, closed at both ends, within which it could either elongate or shorten itself. This parasite (called from its principal habitat the Filaria Sanguinis Hominis ) is about 1 ⁄ 75 th of an inch in length, and about 1 ⁄ 35000 th of an inch in diameter. When removed from the body with a small quantity of blood, it is described as being in a state of ince ant motion, unceasingly coiling and uncoiling itself, lashing the blood-corpuscles in all directions, and insinuating itself between them. The worms are said, when first taken from the body, to present a translucent appearance; the larger specimens, however, frequently exhibit an aggregation of granules towards the junction of the lower and middle half. Occasionally a bright spot, suggestive of a mouth, is seen at the thicker extremity. It is stated that they continue active from six to thirty hours. Mr Lewis does not believe they are able to perforate the ti ues. “These parasites,” says Mr Lewis, “are so persistently ubiquitous, as to be obtained day after day by simply pricking any portion of the body, even to the tips of the fingers and toes of both hands and both feet of one and the same person, with a finely pointed needle. On one occasion six excellent specimens were obtained in a single drop of blood by merely pricking the lobule of the ear.” Dr Lewis estimates, from the number of the Filaria found in one drop of the blood of one patient, that his body must have contained more than 140,000. The presence of these creatures in the blood is believed to be the cause of chylous urine, which is a very common disease in the East. It seems probable they gain admi ion into the body from being present in drinking water.