The microscopic organisms found in the blood of man and animals and their relation to disease. / By Timothy Richards Lewis.

  • Lewis, T. R. (Timothy Richards), 1841-1886.
Date:
1879
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The microscopic organisms found in the blood of man and animals and their relation to disease. / By Timothy Richards Lewis. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

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    will be found to bear a close resemblance to it. It is very possible that these embryos may not have been derived from the crow, but there can be but little doubt, judging from the character of the red blood-corpuscles, that they had been derived from some bird. Eacts of this kind also tend to add to the difficulty of ascertaining precisely the various developmental processes which any particular species of haematozoon undergo. B—The Mature form of Pilaria sanguinis-hominis. A letter appeared in The Lancet of 14th July 1877 from Dr. Cobbold, an- nouncing the discovery by Dr. Bancroft, of Brisbane, Discovery of mature nematodes in the tissues of man by Dr. Bancroft. Australia, of what wcrc bclieved to be specimens of the mature Filaria sanguinis. They had been found on two occasions: on the first, a dead specimen was found in a lymphatic abscess of the arm; and the second time four living specimens were obtained whilst tap- ping a hydrocele of the spermatic cord. Begarding these Dr. Bancroft had written the following description: ' The worm is about the thickness of a human hair, and is from 3 to 4 inches long. By two loops from the centre of the body it emits the filarise described by Carter in immense numbers.' During the last six years I have taken considerable interest in questions of this nature, and have, through the kindness of pro- e'^.To^i^^-'^^^iZ'iWi^AT fessional friends in India, had frequent opportu- nities of searching for the parental form of the Filaria sanguinis-hominif/, but only succeeded in obtaining it on one occasion. This was a little more than a year ago—7th August 1877. Descriptions of the specimens were published at the time,^ but, in a paper dealing with the organisms of the blood, a brief account of these particulars should find a place. Por the opportunity of examining the particular case in which the filarise were found, I am indebted to the kindness of the late Dr. Gayer. The patient was a young Bengalee affected with well-marked nsevoid elephantiasis of the scrotum, associated with the presence of embryo-filariae in the blood. The tumor and the sanguineous exudation which escaped on its removal were col- lected, and submitted to careful examination, and, after a continuous search of eight hours, the long-sought-for helminth was eventually obtained. The 1 Indian Medical Qazette, 1st September 1877 ; The Lancet, 29th September 1877, page 453; Centralhlait fiir die medieinische Wissenschaften, No. 43 ; 1877, page 770,