Results of Microscopic Examination of the Stools of Five Hundred East African Natives Not Suffering from Intestinal Diseases

The examinations here recorded were made in the field during the East African campaign. They were undertaken to determine the percentage of carriers of Entamoeba histolytica among a particular set of native porters. It had been noticed that amoebic dysentery in East Africa was much less common than bacillary among troops of all nationalities and porters, but that its incidence varied in different localities. The natives examined came mostly from the Tabora and Itigi districts, and largely belonged to the Wanyamwezi tribe. During the period of examination the admissions to hospital for dysentery included both troops and porters, the former contributing relatively and absolutely the greater number. The admissions varied from time to time and it seemed that flies played the chief part in the spread of the disease. Amoebic cysts were differentiated by their size, the number of nuclei, and the presence or absence of chromidia. In the case of cysts the size of which would correspond to large E. histolytica