WOOTZ. The Indian name of steel; applied in this country to the steel imported from Bengal.
WORM BARK. Syn. Cabbage-tree bark, or Geoffræya inermis, L. The bark of Andira inermis (Geoffræya i. of some botanists). A powerful astringent, purgative, anthelmintic, and narcotic.—Dose, 10 to 30 gr. In larger doses, or if cold water be drunk during its action, it is apt to occasion sickness, vomiting, and delirium. The remedy for this is copious draughts of warm water.
WORM SEED. Syn. Semen contra, SEMEN CINÆ, L. The broken peduncles, mixed with the calyces and flower-buds, of several species of Artemisia imported from the Levant.—Dose, 10 to 30 gr., in powder; as a vermifuge. See Santonin.
WORMS (Intes′tinal). Syn. Vermes, Intestinalia (Cuvier), Entozoa (Rudolphi), L. The principal parasites which are generated
and nourished in the human intestinal canal are the—Ascaris lumbricoides (Gmelin), or long round-worm, found in the small intestines, and which is generally of the thickness of a goose-quill, and varies in length from 10 to 15 inches;—Ascaris vermicularis (Gmelin), maw, or thread-worm, which is thread-like in appearance, varies from 11⁄2 to 5 lines in length, and confines itself chiefly to the rectum;—Tricocephalus hominis (Gmelin), or long thread-worm, varying from 11⁄4 to 2 inches in length, and found chiefly in the cæcum;—Tænia solium (Gmelin), or common tapeworm, having a flattened riband-like appearance, varying in length from 3 or 4 to 15 or 20 feet, and occupying the small intestines;—Bothriocephalus latus, or broad tapeworm, a variety seldom found in this country, but common in Switzerland and the north of Europe; and, Tænia mediocanellata, another large species, described by Küchenmeister.
Causes. A debilitated state of the digestive organs, improper food, sedentary, habits, impure air, bad water, and, apparently, an occasional hereditary tendency to worms.
Symp. Griping pains, especially about the navel; acid eructations; slimy stools; occasional nausea and vomiting, without any manifest cause; heat and itching about the anus; tenesmus;, emaciation; disturbed dreams; grinding of the teeth during sleep; pallor of countenance; discoloration round the eyes; feverishness; headache; vertigo, &c. In many cases these symptoms are often highly aggravated, and mistaken for primary diseases. The only absolutely positive evidence of the existence of worms is, however, their being seen in the fæces.
Treat. In common cases, an occasional moderately strong dose of calomel overnight, followed by a smart purgative the next morning, is an excellent remedy, where the use of mercurials is not contra-indicated. Cowhage, made into an electuary with honey or treacle, is also an excellent vermifuge. Oil of turpentine is useful against nearly every variety of worms, and, when taken in sufficient doses to reach the rectum, is almost specific in ascarides (thread-worms). When this is inconvenient, an occasional enema of oil of turpentine is even more effective. Enemas of aloes are also very useful in such cases. Scammony, under the form of basilic powder, has long been employed to expel worms in children. Aloes, castor-oil, worm-seed, tin-filings, and sulphur, are likewise popular remedies. Cabbage-tree bark is a powerful anthelmintic; but its use requires caution. Most of the quack vermifuges contain either aloes or gamboge, or calomel and jalap. The substances which have been most highly extolled for the destruction or expulsion of tapeworm (tænia) are kousso, oil of turpentine, male fern, pomegranate, and tin-filings. The first two are those on which the most dependence may be placed. Madame Nouffer’s celebrated ‘Swiss remedy’ for tapeworm,
for which Louis XVI gave 18,000 francs, consisted of 2 or 3 dr. of powdered male fern, taken in 1⁄4 pint of water, in the morning, fasting, followed in 2 hours by a bolus made of calomel and scammony, of each 10 gr.; gamboge, 6 or 7 gr. ‘Swain’s vermifuge’ is prepared from worm-seed, 2 oz.; valerian, rhubarb, pink-root, and white agaric, of each 11⁄2 oz.; boiled in water, q. s. to yield 3 quarts of decoction, to which 30 drops of oil of tansy, and 45 drops of oil of cloves, dissolved in a quart of rectified spirit, are added. All purgatives may be regarded as vermifuges. Besides our efforts to destroy and expel the worms, the tone of the primæ vitæ should be raised by the use of stomachics and tonics, by which the tendency to their equivocal generation will be either removed or lessened. See Ascaris lumbricoides, Decoction, Enema, Pills, Patent Medicines, Vermifuges, &c.; and also the several vermifuges under their respective names.
Obs. Parasitic worms as existing in animals are so remarkably prevalent and so widely diffused that probably no creature can be said to be secure against their attack. Among domestic animals, sheep often suffer to a most serious extent from these parasites, and more especially from the nematoid, known as Strongylus bronchialis. In some years lambs are lost by hundreds from the complications of disease which attend upon the presence of these worms within the windpipe and the bronchial tubes. Their existence is marked by great wasting of the body, hurried breathing, and distressing cough. After a time diarrhœa sets in, which quickly carries off the animal. It has been found that lambs fed on clover, and other allied plants, which had been pastured the year previously with sheep, suffer the most, and are far more likely to be affected than those which are differently managed. Remedial measures too often prove ineffectual, especially when structural disease of the lungs has followed as a consequence. The exhibition of oil of turpentine in doses of about half an ounce, mixed with an equal quantity of linseed oil, is sometimes found to be beneficial; but it must be conjoined with a corn diet, the free use of salt, and also sulphate of iron mixed with the manger food, tincture of assafœtida, and the essential oil of savin, in small doses, are remedies greatly extolled by some persons. The inhalation of diluted chlorine gas or of sulphurous acid gas is often exceedingly beneficial; but remedies of this kind ought always to be confided to the superintending care of the veterinary surgeon.