Some Host-Finding Attributes of Schistosoma Mansoni Miracidia

I recall an occasion when Dr. Wilson Smillie, late Professor of Public Health and Preventive Medicine at Cornell, responded to a laudatory introduction by telling the audience a story drawn from his hookworm-control days in the South during the 1920's. Smillie was driving along a back road when he came to a narrow bridge from which a small boy was trying to drag a stubborn calf. After a bemused wait, Smillie drove up behind the calf and pressed heavily on the car's horn. The sudden blast propelled the beast from the bridge into the shallow creek below, whereupon the youngster turned to the chagrined Smillie and remarked, “Mister, that was just too big a toot for too small a calf!” In the spirit of that remark, I thank Dr. Shookoff for his kind introduction, and his committee for admitting me to the fellowship of my predecessors in this annual Craig Lecture.