Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 32, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 February 1910 — Page 3 Advertisements Column 1 [ADVERTISEMENT]

SZ 000.000 TO KILL ' < Mr. Rockefeller’s gift of >1,000,000, to be used in eradicating the hookworm disease, fixes public attention on the dread scourge of the South. (When this parasite was found the discoverer stated, quite correctly, that It was responsible for most of the lassitude and unwillingness ;to work ot the so-called “poor white trash”—whereupon he was laughed out of court as the discoverer "of “the germ of laziness.” The hookworm, which is not a germ, is certainly no laughing matter. It is not peculiar to the Southern States, having been-found in animals as early as 1782. It was first recognized a> the cause of a parasitic disease in 1843 in Italy, and In 1878 Its action in exhausting the blood from the system was realized. In succeeding years its wide prevalence was noted in Europe and in some cases were traced to the United States; but-it was not until 1902 that the existence of a purely American variety was demonstrated and announced by Dr. Stiles, a zoologist connected with the United States government service. The appearance and habits of the parasite are now well -known. It is a quckingworm less than an inch long and looking much like “a bit of soiled coarse thread.” One victim may entertain several thousand of these tiny "vampires,” and these cause loss of blood not only by sucking it, but by leakage 'through the minute holes that they make in the intestinal walls. Retardation bf development due to hookworms has caused a great deal of unmerited criticism to be heaped on the Southern cotton mills. Lads of 17 or 18 appeal- no blder than normal boys of 10 or 11; boys of 10 or 11 sometimes look like little children. Strangers not knowing their real ages and seeing them at work go away with lurid stories of the horrors of child labor. Their impression is still further heightened if they try to talk with the supposed children. The disease makes them dull and backward — they arp generally thp stupidest pupils in the schools —and they seem unable to answer the simplest questions intelligently. Perhaps they, feel too miserable even to~try. In school they are unable to concentrate their minds on anything, and the teachers in the hookworm districts say that if their pupils remain seated for any length of time they '’swell up.” Hookworm disease is caused by the presence of small worms belonging to a group of round worms known technically as ucinarinae. Two different kinds of hookworm occur in man. One of these is popularly known as the "Old World-hookworm,” the other as the “New World, hookworm.” Both of these parasites are known to occur in Africa, the home of the negro, and both have been found in the negro. The Old World hookworm is relatively rare in the United States, where the great majority of cases must be attributed to the New World parasite. The New World hookworm is known as “the American murderer,” this name having been given It on account of the great number of deaths it causes, directly er indirectly. The American hookworm is about one-fourth to one-half an inch long and about as thick as a small hairpin. It has haft cutting plates or jaws guarding the entrance to its mouth, with the aid at which it fastens itself to the intestinal wall. In its adult stage the hookworm is found fastened to the lining membrane of the small intestine. Formerly it was thought that the parasite secured its hold by means of hooks, but now it is established that it fastens itself by biting the membrane. It makes a wound, sucks the blood and produces a poisonous substance which Injures thb person affected. A person may harbor a few hookworms, or several thousands, according to the amount of Infection to which he has been subjected. The disease is more common in chHdren than in adults.' The parasites do not multiply in the intestine, as thfetr eggs require fresh air in order to develop, and so for every hookworm found in the intestine a separate germ must enterttwbody. —~~—~7” 7~7 ~ * The young worm may enter the body in two different ways. It may.be swallowed in contaminated water or it may bore its way through the Boring through is the more common method of infectioh; ! entering the skin, the young worms make their way to the blood and pass with the blood through the heart to the lungs. Gradually they. And their Way to the small- intestine, where they shed their skin, become mature and then begin their work of injuring the walls of the Intestines of suckling I the blood, and of poisoning their victims. Investigations by Dr. Stiles have, convinced him that the bookworm dis- - ease has a serious effect upon the mind and prevents children from fully and properly assimilating the education which is ottered them. He says that, as nearly as can be estimated, the physical condition of the Southern school children in the rural districts is such that they cannot assimilate more than 70 per cent of the education they receive. ■ _ Dr. Stiles is quoted as saying that it will take twenty years, at a cost of >IOO,OOO a year—that is, >2,000,000—t0 stamp out the malady in the Southern Statges. Much, however, can be done in a short time. The Rockefeller commission has not yet adopted a program for its campaign against the disease, but it will probably take up the measures sug- , geeted some time ago by Dr. Stiles, which include an annual “public health week” in the schools, when children will be taught the dangers’ bf infection; house-to-house canvasses in the back country districts by medical students on vacation to enlighten the natives, lectures by physicians and trained nurses in town halls, churches and schoolhouses; the distribution of pamphlets and other printed matter telling about the disease; an institution for freediagnesis and treatment, and the. passing of law*-in the several Southern States to permit the above measures and to promote the antihookworm campaign. ‘ A late dispatch from San Francisco says that hundreds of cases of hookworm have been Imported into California in the last few years from Hawaii, the Philippines and the Orient. Almost half of a colony of West Indian laborers who had been working in the Hawaiian sugar plantations and came to the Pacific coast were infected.