Some account of two cases of inflammatory tumour, produced by the deposit of the larva of a large fly (OEstrus humanus) beneath the cutis, in the human subject : accompanied with drawings of the larva / by John Howship.

  • Howship, John, 1781-1841.
Date:
[1833]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Some account of two cases of inflammatory tumour, produced by the deposit of the larva of a large fly (OEstrus humanus) beneath the cutis, in the human subject : accompanied with drawings of the larva / by John Howship. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    as a curiosity presented by some gentleman, who, having seen the case, had brought the insect home with him. I subsequently mentioned the circumstance to Mr. Robert Keate, who regretted it was not in his power to give me any information regarding it. Being told that some such instance had been placed on record, I consulted, but without success, several works to which I was referred; although I still doubt whether such notice may not somewhere be found.* Under these circumstances the best course appeared to be, to obtain from good authority a description of the larva, including its probable place in a systematic view; together with those suggestions that might be useful in any future case, by enabling the observer to preserve the larva alive, until, breaking from its confinement in the pupa, it came forth, the perfect fly: thus affording the most desirable re- sult, and only adequate means for determining its exact place in the extensive arrangement of natural history ; and that it would then be desirable so to make known these observations as to meet the eye and obtain the attention of gentlemen, who, from their professional duties abroad, may have the opportunity of following up, and completing, the present inquiry. With these objects in view, I obtained, through my friend, Mr. Houlton, surgeon, an introduction to Mr. J. Curtis, an active member of the Linnsean Society; a gentleman, the extent of whose scientific acquirements is only equalled by the zeal with which he devotes his time and talents to the study of natural history, and most especially entomology. To this gentleman I am indebted for his valuable descriptive remarks subjoined, and for his attention in procuring the annexed drawings of the insect, by an artist of singular merit, exclu- sively devoted to these pursuits. In reference to the first of the above-mentioned cases, I lately wrote to my friend, Mr. W. Gill, many years a surgeon in the army, and now a teacher of anatomy in Liverpool, who favoured me in reply with the following statement: “ In August, 1806, I visited a soldier of the 64th regiment, at an outpost, on the Marawina river, Surinam, with a boil, of the size of half-a-crown, on his back, a little below the scapula: it was acuminated, and sloping towards the margin. • Having recently heard that this insect is described in Humboldt’s Travels in South America, to ascertain the fact, I referred to the original copy in the library of the British Museum. I reud through the references to the plates on natural history, looked over the plates themselves, and also the letterpress bearing upon the plates, without finding it; yet it is possible I might have overlooked it.