Page:Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, volume 1.djvu/182

154 passing, meteor-like, across the conjunctiva, but had not been excised because it had not been possible to call a medical man before it had disappeared. We must conclude, then, that the parent worm is still at large in the bodies of these gentlemen. In two of the cases I have not been able to examine the blood more than once or twice, and on each occasion the examination was negative. In the third I was able to get a series of slides, with the following results:—
 * First day.—12 noon, four; 8 p.m., two; 12 midnight, none.
 * Second day.—4 a.m., none; 8 a.m., none; 12 noon, two (this was a poor Him); 4 p.m., none; 8 p.m., none; 12 midnight, one.
 * Third day.—4 a.m., none; 8 a.m., none; 12 noon, three (this was taken by myself).

In each case a space equal to an ordinary square cover glass was examined. The degree of blood infection was therefore not great, but the periodicity was well marked, filaria being found on each day at noon, only once being found during the night. I have not measured the specimens, but the worm has a sheath, and very much resembles F. nocturna.

In each of these cases the presence of the loa has been associated with skin phenomena, and a brief description may be of interest.

—The patient first noticed, in February, 1907, an intolerable itching in the neighbourhood of the big toe, which lasted for about twenty-four hours. The patient would scratch the place, then a watery bleb would form, and sometimes a general puffiness of the part, and after a day or two this would subside. There would be a lull for about three weeks, and then another attack. This lasted for about two months, then the bleb-forming stopped, and since that time he has only had attacks of swelling and