Case of Filaria loa. / by D. Argyll Robertson.

  • Robertson D. Argyll (Douglas Argyll), 1837-1909.
Date:
1895
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Case of Filaria loa. / by D. Argyll Robertson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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

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    him that although he had been very many years in that country, and had often heard of the parasite, this was the first specimen he had been able to secure. The mission- ary himself appeared to be also affected with filaiia, which, however, did not appear on the eye, but could, he said, occasionally be felt under the skin of the fingers, and once in the skin of the lower eyelid, from which position he attempted himself to remove it with scalpel and forceps, but he did not succeed, the worm wriggling away across his cheek. The worm that was sent to Dr. Morton measured 16 mm., but was in too badly preserved a state to permit of accurate examination. Lastly, in Dr. Davidson’s work on hygiene and diseases of warm climates (p. 962) Dr. Manson, who writes the article ou filai'ia, reports the case of a negro who had been affected with Filaria loa, and in whose blood he after- wards found the Filaria diurna, and raises the question whether the Filaria loa may not turn out to be the female parental form of the Filaria diurna. I am afraid we must confess that we are as yet very ignorant of many points connected with the life history of the Filaria loa. With the adult female parasite we have a limited acquaintance, but till now we are ignorant of the appearance of the male worm. The larvae have been observed in the interior of the adult, but what their further course is, what transmigration may occur, ere they reappear as fully formed filarise under the conjunctiva has yet to be discovered. The only observation that bears at all upon this question is that made by Dr. Manson and reported in Dr. Davidson’s work, that in one case of Filaria loa, the Filaria diurna was afterwards found in the blood. With the view of ascertaining whether the Filaria diurna was present in the blood of my patient Miss H—, and also with the view of getting a report as to her general medical condition, I got my friend Dr. Alexander Bruce to undertake the examina- tion. It must, however, be borne in mind that in her case
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