Report of the case of a patient from whose subcutaneous tissue three larvae of a species of dermatobia were removed : with remarks / by Rudolph Matas.

  • Matas, Rudolph, 1860-1957.
Date:
[between 1880 and 1889?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report of the case of a patient from whose subcutaneous tissue three larvae of a species of dermatobia were removed : with remarks / by Rudolph Matas. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    tures to the multiple and maddening attacks of these enemies. j ; It is very probable that the dermatobia deposit their eggs in a manner similar to the hypodermata, selecting, accord- ing to Gaudot s account, the parts of the body- that are least accessible to the mouth or the* tail. • The female der-* matobia appear to be extremely prolific, as on a single beef Gaudot was able to count several hundred larvae. These larvae cover a large surface of the back of the cattle, forming -under their skin, and by their aggregation, a large mass of tumors, from which pus is continually oozing from a multitude of orifices. These open- ings often accommodate other dipterous insects, which lay their eggs there also, develop into larvae, and give rise to the foulest sores imaginable. The larvae of the der- matobia are also found on the head, flanks, tail and the spine; but it is generally on the shoulders that the chief focus of larval ag- gregation is found. It has been observed that a larva deposited in the middle of June was metamorphosed into a perfect insect on the 4th of the following August, about two months later. Justin Gaudot demonstrated that, in addition to man, the cattle and dogs in South America are freely victimized by this fly. He himself was attacked by these dermatobias'. “ I was stung,” he said “ in several parts of my body and indiscriminately on all those parts which were unprotected, and ova were deposited in my skin, which grew into larvas that could not be distinguished from those of cattle or dogs. I even allowed one to remain fifteen days in my thigh, and I was thus able to notice a peculiar suction exercised by the FIG. 3.—A typical Dermatobia. “ Ver-macaque.” Dermatobia noxiali.s, (Brauer). 1. Whole larva. 2. Cephalic portion. . 3. Caudal , extremity. (From Bocquillon).