ROUND WORM.--(Ascariasis Lumbricoides).--The round worm resembles the
angle worm in form; is the most common human parasite and is found chiefly
in children. The female is seven to twelve inches long, the male four to
eight inches. It is pointed at both ends. The parasite occupies the upper
part of the small bowel and there is usually only one or two present, but
sometimes they occur in enormous numbers. They migrate in a peculiar
manner. They may pass into the stomach, whence they may be thrown out by
vomiting, or they may crawl up the gullet, and enter the pharynx and cause
serious trouble. They may go up the eustachian tube and appear at the
external meatus (opening of ear). The serious migration is into the
bile-duct. There is a specimen in the Wister-Horner Museum of the
University of Pennsylvania in which not only the common bile-duct, but
also the main branches throughout the liver, are enormously distended, and
packed with numerous round worms. The bowel may be blocked or in rare
instances an ulcer may be perforated; even the healthy bowel may be
perforated.
Symptoms.--Picking of the nose, grinding of the teeth, a whitish paleness
around the mouth, restless sleep; sometimes convulsions, or presence of
worms in the stool. Bad health, cross, peevish, irritable and dumpy, when
the child is naturally the opposite.
MOTHERS' REMEDIES.--l. Round or Pin Worms, Sage Tea for.--"Sage tea is a
fine remedy for children troubled with worms, taken before breakfast or on
going to bed." Sage tea may help; I have known other mothers to have faith
in it. Its virtue may consist in being a laxative and an antiseptic which
in themselves would add to the general health of the child.
2. Round and Pin Worms, Tansy remedy for.--"Tansy leaves may be crushed
and put in whisky or dried and crushed with sugar. This is the best
vermifuge I ever used." A tea made of tansy leaves must be used carefully
as it is strong and never given to pregnant women.
3. Round and Pin Worms, Peach Leaf Tea for.--"Half an ounce of dried peach
leaves may be infused in a pint of boiling water and a tablespoonful given
for a dose three times a day." They are laxative and exert a sedative
influence over the nervous system. They have been frequently used for
worms with reported success. An infusion is highly recommended in
irritability of the bladder, in sick stomach and in whooping cough.
PHYSICIANS' TREATMENT.--l. Dr. Osler, of Oxford, England, recommends as
follows: Santonin in doses of two or three grains for an adult; one or two
a day for three or four days, followed by salts or calomel; one-half to
one grain for children in the same way. This seems to me to be
unnecessarily large.
[46 MOTHERS' REMEDIES]