Filaria (fil-a're-ah)

A genus of parasitic nematoid worms of the family Filariidae. They are long filiform worms, the mouth is unarmed and the female is longer than the male. F. Bancrof ti. Syn.: F. sanguinis hominis, F. nocturn a, Trichina cystic a. Long, whitish, filiform worms with a smooth cuticle and globular head having an unarmed, liple mouth. The male measures 38 mm. and the female from 70 to 100 mm. The males and females are found in the lymphatics of the lower and upper extremities. The embryos enter the circulation and appear in the blood at night as small, wriggling filiform bodies from 290 to 320 min length. The parasite is transmitted to man by means of various species of the Culex mosquito. F. conjunctivae. A species found under the conjunctivae of man. F. Demarquayi. A species found by Manson in the blood of man in the West Indies. It produces no pathologic effects. F. dracunculus. See Dracunculus med in ens is. F. immit is. A viviparous species found frequently in the right ventricle of the dogs of eastern Asia. It pa es into the blood, where its development is arrested. F. labial is. A threadlike, cylindrical species, 30 mm. long, with four papillae surrounding the is mouth in a crucial form, a slender head, a blunt tail, and the vaginal aperture near the anal. Males are not known. It has been found in one case (in Naples) in a pustule of the upper lip. F. loa. A parasite of the subcutaneous ti ues of the back, breast, penis, eyelid, and conjunct tiva. The embryos enter the blood and appear during the day. They differ from F. Bancrofti also in being more irregularly curved. F. locustae. See Gordius aquatic us, under Gordius. F. lymphatic a. See Strongyl us bronchial is. F. med in ens is. See Dracunculus med in ens is. i. The guinea worm, an animal parasite indigenous to the western coast of Africa, India, Arabia, Egypt, and elsewhere. The female is from i to 12 feet in length, 1/io inch in diameter, and cylindrical throughout. It has a flat head, a blunt tail, and an oval aperture, surrounded by four crucially placed papillae. Formerly it was supposed to gain entrance to the skin by boring from without, but, according to the latest authorities, it is introduced probably in impure drinking water containing Cyclops, in which the embryos of the Filaria pa through the larval stage. The young worm is supposed to make its way from the alimentary canal to the mesentery, where male and female copulate; after which the female makes her way to the subcutaneous cellular ti ue, in various parts of the body, most commonly of the feet and legs. The presence of the worm in the skin manifests itself by a painful tumor, blister, or furuncle, sometimes advancing to severe inflammation, with constitutional disturbance. 2. The disease caused by med i net is is; also called drac anti as is. F. papillosa. Syn.: Hamular i a equi. A species found in the peritoneum of the horse, donkey, mule, ox, and buffalo, and also in their thoracic cavity and aqueous humor. It sometimes appears in the lymphatic glands of human beings. F. perstans, F. sanguinis hominis perstans. Syn.: Acantlwcheilonema perstans. An African variety constantly present in the blood of those infested with it. F. sanguinis hominis. See F. Bancrofti. F. Teniguchi. A species found in the lymphatic glands in a Japanese. [Lat., Alum, thread.]