Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Supplement, Volume 2.djvu/798

 W O R

\V O I


 * a. very violent and intolerable pain ■

part of her forehead toward the right

pree, found at this time feize her on the lower p;

fide, and very near the top of the nofe. This held her a long time, and in the fpace of two years extended itfelr to the temples on the fame fide. ]t now became continual alfo, whereas before it had had intermi (lions, and grew more and more violent ; fo that, m fine, it was attended with con- veniens, and with a great disordering of the patient's fenfes during its more terrible agonies.

Many medicines were tried, but all in vain ; and after four years fpent in fruitlcfs attempts for a cure, fhe left oft all medicines, and only kept to a regular courfe of life, and to the taking much fnuff; from which fhe ufually found eafe. One morning, after taking fome fnufF, fhe fneezed violent- ly, and threw out of her nofe a Worm wrapped up in a mafs of a pituitous matter, tinged with a little blood. She was frighted at the fight, but fhe found herfelf cured in a mo- ment. The noftril on that fide bled a little for two or three days, and -in that time her reafon which had been much ditturbedj became perfectly calm and fettled as before. The fize of this Worm was very extraordinary ; it was thin, its utmoft breadth or thicknefs not being fo much as half a quarter of an inch : It ufually curled itfelf into feveral bend- ings ; for it was difcharged alive, and feemingly hearty, and in this ftate was ufually about two inches long ; but when it extended its body to its full length, it was not lefs than fix inches. It was fomethiug thicker in the middle than at either end, and was of a clear deep brown ; its back was rounded or convex, and its belly flat; and it was covered all over, except on the head, with large and regular lcales ; thefe were evenly difpofed, and from between thefe there grew on each fide fifty-fix legs ; thefe were as fine as a hair, and about one twelfth of an inch long. The creature feemed therefore of the centipes kind, and in examining the head there were cafily difcovered the two eyes, two horns, and a pair of forceps made up of four arms ; and the tail was armed with two points, longer, thicker and fharper pointed than the legs. After examination it was put into an empty phial, where it remained alive eighteen hours ; at the end of which time they poured fome fpirit upon it to preferve it, and it lived and crauled about in this two hours.

The feat of the pain mews very plainly, that the Worm muft have lived in the cavity of the frontal funis. This fmus is about two inches long, and three quarters of an inch broad, and therefore might very well contain a Worm of this fort in a bended pofture ; and this feemed to have been accuftoni- ed to that pofture, by its naturally bending and folding it- feli up, when at its liberty. There is between this finus and the noftril naturally a fmall hole, by which they communi- cate and by which the finus admits the air at every infpi- ration ; and it is not impoflible, but that a ftrong muffing in the air at fome time might have carried into this fmus with it the egg in which this little animal was inclofed. It is poffible indeed, that the egg might be lodeed here by the round of circulation, but this feems much lefs probable ; and it feems very certain that, however it got in, it was by this paflage that it finally got out : It is true, that the cavity is naturally too fmall to have given fo large a creature paf- fage, but it is eafy to conceive that the creature might have gnawed it larger. '

It is plain, that the egg when once received into the frontal fmus, muff find there every requifite for its coming to per- fection ; warmth and humidity, there was very fufneient ; and when the creature was hatched, the juices excreted there might ferve it abundantly for nourifhment, infomuch that it plainly grew much larger than it would have done if hatch- ed on the earth in the common way, and lived a longer time than its fellows on earth ufually do, a life of four years free from accidents, and finely cherifhed. This was its ftate ; but what, alas ! muft have been that of the patient ? The membrane of the finus being continually wounded by the; forceps; the points at the tail, and no lefs than an hundred and twelve kgs probably almoft always in motion ; every particular fibre of this membrane muft 'have had its wound, and the complaint could not but grow worfe as the creature increafed in fize, and as it was irritated by the frequent ufc of the fnufF ; tobacco being a fmell hateful to almoft all animals.

From the fymptoms of this patient, it will be eafy to know any like accident that may hereafter happen, in which cafe it would be advifeable to ufe fnuff* or tobacco in any fhape to take internally fuch medicines as are known to deftroy Worms, and to fnuff ftrongly up the nofe fuch acrid and acid liquors as the patient could bear, and as might incom-

. mode the animal. Oil is a perfectly innocent medicine to

. us, yet is deftr native of moft animals ; this therefore muffed up alone, might work a cure ; but if all thefe means fail,

_ it would be very eafy and very fafe for a furgeon to make an iucifion..into the part, and remove the noxious infect. Mem. Acad, Par. 1708.

We have accounts in the Acta Leipfienfia, of Worms not on- ly voided by urine, but let out of the veins in blood-letting ;

, but there want more teftimonies of fuch marvellous things to procure them a general belief.

Wor.M, in gunnery, is a fcrew of iron to be fixed on the end of a rammer, to pull out the wad of a firelock, carabine, or piftol ; it is the fame with wad-book, only the one is more proper for fmall fire-arms, and the other tor cannon.

WoRM-W-^ran, a name given by authors to a feed of the fantonicum kind, little known among us, but called by the generality of authors chouan.

WoRM-finfihirc, in chemiilry, a name given by many to a medicine prepared by Hoffman, from mrth- Warms ; and in many parts of Germany efteemed one of the greateft medi- cines in the world, though lefs known in other places. The preparation is this : the Worms are to be collected in the fpring or fummer month-;, and the larger fort are the beft. They are to be carefully dried, and reduced to a fine powder ; this powder is to be mixed up into the cojifittence of a pultice, with oil of tartar per deliquium, and this is to Hand twenty-four hours ; then fpirit of wine is to be poured on it, to as to reach three lingers breadth above it, and a dram of faffron and half a dram of caitor, are to be added, and the whole is to ftand three days in infufion, and after this be filtred oft" for ufe Some add a fmall quantity of opium to the tincture, but as it is often wanted in cafes where opium is not proper, it is better to keep it feparate thus made ; and when there is occalion to have it opiated, to add as many drops of laudanum as is judged neceliary. The oil of tartar in this cafe penetrates the very inneimoff. Structure of the Worms, and is a means of the extracting fuch a tincture from them, as no art could otherwifc contrive to make ; and the medicine becomes, according to Hoff- man, much more an anodyne, from the admixture of -the fait of tartar in the tincture.

When it is intended to be made with opium, it is always proper to add alfo fome of the hound's -tongue-root, which is found as an anodyne to emulate the virtues of opium. This tincture, which ever way prepared, is excellent in abat- ing the pains of difeafes, that do not admit a cure. The fits of the gout are rendered eafier by every dofe of it ; and even in cancers, the pain is quieted in a wonderful manner by it, and life rendered much more fupportable. Hoffman's Act. Labarator. Chym.

Worm-icw/, Abfyntbium, in botany, the name of a genus of plants, the characters of which are thefe : The flowers are fmall, but of the fiofculous kind, being compoied of feveral flofculcs divided into many fegments at the edges, and Hand- ing upon the embryo-feed.-;, and contained in a fcaly cup. The embryos ripen finally into feeds, not winged with down. . ,.

The fpecics of Wormwood, enumerated by Mr. Tournefort, are thefe : 1. The broad-leaved tree Wormwood. 2. The Pontic Wormwood, or the Roman Wormwood of JJioicorides. 3. The mountain-Pontic /form-wood, 4. TheCretk Worm- wood, of a plealing imel!. 5. '1 he tine-leaved hoary Pontic Wormwood, 6. 'I he Pontic Wormwood, with purp.e italks, and finely divided leaves, green underneath. 7. The Au- strian fine-leaved Pontic Wormwood. 8. The procumbent or creeping Pontic Wormwood, cj. '1 he iniipid taited Worm- wood, refembling the common kind._ id. The lea Worm- wood, with lavender leaves. 11. The fea Wormwood^ with the upper kaves divided into' fegments. 12. The German fea Wormwood. 13. The Dutch fea Wormwood. 14. The broad-leaved fea Wormvjood, of an agreeable fmell. jc. The French fea Wormwood. 16. The .French wormfeed Wormwood. 17. The white mountain // ormwood, 18. The hoary Alpine Wormwood, ig. The dwarf white Alpine Wormwood. 20. The annual corymbifero.us Wormwood. 21. The long-flowered Spanifh white Wormwotd. 22.. The Spanifh fea Wormzvood, with a rounder flower, and with.- the imell of wormfeed. 23. The lweet-finelling Wormwood^ with an elegant fpike of flowers. 24.. The African-tree Wormwood, with hoary vermiculated leaves. Taurus/, inli. Botan. p. 457.

'Fhe common Wormwood is one of the fineft medicines we know, as a iiomachic and hepatic, ft greatly fti-enothens the iiomach, opens obftructions of the liver or fpleen° pro- motes an appetite, and deft toys worms. 'Fhe leaves and tops before the plant is in flower, are the parts of it moft uied ; they_ are to be dried and given in powder, or in a light infufion. Their virtues in the jaun- dice and dropfy, are very great. They are alfo given by fome in putrid fevers. Many naufeous infects arc deftroyed, or driven away by the fmell of this plant ; and it is no un- common practice among the good women in the country, to preferve their cloaths from moths, by layino* bundles of dried Wormwood among them.

The Roman and fea Wormwood have much the fame vir- tues with the common kind ; but they are lefs naiafeous to the tafte, and therefore are generally uied iuitead of it. The true Roman Wormwood is very fcarce among us. What we buy under its name, is ufually alfynthium jeriph'mm, or common fea Wormwood.

Our brewers have ibme of them a method of ufing Worm- wood inftead of the hops, to give the bitter tafte to their malt-liquors, and to preferve them : Jt is found to anfwer . the latter purpofe very well ; but the tafte is fo difagreeable,

that