In 1854, a doctor in Logansport, Ind., named Alpheus Myers devised a treatment for tapeworms, a malady he saw often in his rural practice. Myers patented a “trap” consisting of a small spring-loaded, hollow cylinder of gold, platinum or another rustproof metal that would be baited with something like cheese and swallowed by the patient. The cylinder was attached to a cord that presumably dangled out of the mouth.
After six to 12 hours, the cylinder would be retrieved, or sooner if the patient noted a tug on the cord like that of a fish on a baited hook. Inside the cylinder would presumably be a captured worm. If nothing happened during the 12-hour period, the trap would be pulled out, rebaited and swallowed again.
One year after Myers patented his invention, he claimed at least one success, as reported at the time in Scientific American, removing a worm “50 feet in length, from a patient, who, since then, has had a new lease on life.”
Most tapeworms, of course, are significantly smaller, though Taenia saginata (beef tapeworm) can grow to approximately 75 feet.
