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III. BlLHARZIOSIS : FlLARIASIS. The same consideration that led me to bring forward Paragonimus westermanni and the endemic haemoptysis with which it is associated, induces me to give yet another illustration of the conveyance of a disease germ through water, and probably by a fresh-water intermediary. We now know that Bilharzia disease, similar to if not identical with that which is so common in Africa, occurs in America; many cases have been reported in the West India Islands, particularly in Porto Rico. Quite recently another and possibly widely diffused, but specifically different, species of the same genus has been added to the already sufficiently long list of human disease germs. The new species, which gives rise to very different and grave lesions, has been named Schis- tosomum cattoi, and also Schistosomum japonicum. It is possible that it, too, may occur in, or if it does not already occur in, that it may in the near future be introduced into the Western Hemisphere. As yet it is impossible to estimate the importance of the new parasite, but there can be no question as to the importance of the more familiar species of Bilharzia, at least as regards Africa, where in places, Egypt for example, it affects one half of the population. The introduction into America of Bilharzia, or, as it is more correctly called, Schistosomum hcematobium, may Sckistosomum hcrmatobium Male. (From a photo by Dr. T. S. Kerr.1 have been a recent occurrence ; hence its non-recognition long ago and its present limited geographical range in this part of the world. If this be so, a serious situation has arisen, for, as with many other disease germs of old world origin, Bilharzia may yet spread farand wide over your Continent, and in congenial spots prove as serious an enemy ...
