The Commonwealth Institute of Helminthology

Abstract

The Commonwealth Institute of Helminthology In response to a wider search for taxonomic experts who will be listed in a future Clearinghouse, we heard from the Commonwealth Institute of Helminthology The White House, 103 St. Peter's Street, St. Albans: Herts., England ALl 3EW, which is under the directorship of Dr. Sheila Willmott. The Institute deals with all aspects of helminthology (= the study of parasitic worms) and has published a series of annotated bibliographies ranging from Plant Nematodes in the Carribean to Control of in Goats. One of these should be in the library of every department of archaeology: Helminths in Archaeological and PreHistoric Deposits (Bibliography No.9, containing 46 references of the period 1910-1976, available from the Institute for £1.50 = $3.00). The pamphlet gives a glimpse at the considerable but largely unused potential of this special field of palaeopathology. Not only mummies, but bog burials, fecal remains of man and domestic animals, middens, and soil samples can provide important information about the nature and extent of parasitic infestation in prehistoric communities. An entirely new field of archaeodemohygienics (the study of public health in ancient times) arises in the mind's eye. The Institute is not a service organization; a note accompanying the bibliography reads: We would be chary about identifying helminths on a regular basis; we might from time to time!.