Hydatid disease / by John Davies Thomas ; edited and arranged by Alfred Austin Lendon.

  • John Davies Thomas
Date:
1894
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Hydatid disease / by John Davies Thomas ; edited and arranged by Alfred Austin Lendon. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Leeds Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Leeds Library.

    55/188
    FREQUENCY—SITE. This is not so in other parts of Europe, for out of 19G cases of echino- coccus in Mecklenburg, collected by Madehmg * and his colleagues, 19 were pulmonary and 1 was pleural, i.e., nearly 10 per cent, of all the cases. From the foregoing data it is clear that in Australia the proportion •of pulmonary hydatids is unusually high ; in Iceland, on the other hand, it is equally certain that lung hydatids occur rarely. Dr. Dougan Bird, of Melbourne, suggests the following explanation, so far as Australia is concerned:—• “ The dust of our streets (in Melbourne) is the result of mud from the frequent use of the Yan Yean hydrant, dried by the hot wind, and powdered by the constant traffic of the day. It is notorious that this fine dust does, during respiration, enter into the air-passages, more particularly of women, who are less protected about the mouth and nose by hair than men. Nothing is moi’e likely than that the dried-up ovum, revivified by the moisture and steady warmth of the body, should now commence its new career. Anyone who has witnessed the drafting of sheep or cattle on a hot day will readily understand how well this dust-theory applies also for the explanation of the origin of pulmonary hydatid in those engaged in pastoral pursuits ; the readily-dried and pulverised droppings of the sheep-dogs furnishing the materies morbi ready-made on the spot.” f The chief difficulty in the acceptance of this theory has been to imagine the digestion of the thick shells of the eggs of Tamia echino- coccus by any means except the action of the gastric juice; however, recently J there has arisen cause for suspecting that the mucous secretion of inflamed bronchial tubes may acquire a sort of digestive or solvent power equal to this task. At any rate, the difference in the relative frequency of lung hydatids in Australia (16 per cent.), in Mecklenburg (nearly 10 per cent.), and in Iceland (under 3 per cent.), stands in striking contrast with the average of 15 per cent, for the world in general, and calls for some explanation. Site.—The two lungs are not attacked with equal frequency, for out of 195 cases the Right lung was the seat in 121 cases, and the Left lung ■in 74 cases. * Op. cit., page 76 et seq. t On Hydatids of the Lung. Second edition. Melbourne, 1S77. Pages 2 and 3. 1'] his was written in 1890.—(A.A.L.)