254 DR. T. S. COBBOLD ON THE PAEASITES OF ELEPHANTS. 



but as these turn out to be not Ascarides, but Strongyles, armed with more or less formidable teeth, 

 I am inclined to think that he has underrated their powers of mischief. On the other hand, whilst I 

 quite think with him that the Amphistomes, by their sucking action and consequent irritation, are 

 capable of giving rise to severe inflammatory lesions, yet I doubt their capacity for drawing blood in 

 the way Mr. Steel implies. If the Amphistomes really gorge themselves in this sucking process, they 

 must needs be continually detaching themselves for the purpose of ejecting the contents of the stomach. 

 In true leeches, as also in those Strongyles which have bloodsucking propensities, the presence of 

 an anal outlet enables them, whilst still attached, to discharge freely those constituents of the blood 

 that are not necessary for their nourishment. 



In reference to the Ectozoa, I possess no sufficient data whereby to estimate their power of pro- 

 ducing mischief amongst Elephants. Judging from what happens in the case of other domestic animals, 

 it is certain that strict attention to sanitary matters will diminish the chances of invasion either from 

 external or from internal parasites. Mr. Steel speaks with evident satisfaction of the cleanliness and 

 care taken by the grooms at Sanger's Circus-stables, where the flooring was "subjected to frequent 

 disinfection." At the Zoological Gardens I have frequently made inquiries of the Head Keeper 

 (Scott) whose diligent search for Entozoa has hitherto been attended with negative results. This 

 speaks well for the cleanliness observed there ; and at the same time the absence of parasites shows 

 that the habit of earth-eating, which the African Elephants at the Gardens are wont to indulge in, is 

 not consequent upon the presence of Entozoa. This habit is not confined to any one class of animals. 

 My friend Mr. Arthur Folkard, during his residence in Ceylon, noticed that the Elephants of that island 

 were large earth-eaters ; and the late Dr. J. P. Rowe assured me that Australian horses and sheep 

 largely indulge in the same propensity. Dr. Rowe thought that the sheep thus sought instinctively to 

 relieve themselves from the irritation produced by parasites in the stomach. My own belief is that when 

 colic-symptoms are associated with a depraved appetite, the animals affected swallow mud, soft earth, or 

 sand indiscriminately. A remarkable instance was brought under my notice by Colonel Hawkcs, where 

 the accumulation of " sand or gravel " in the intestines of a military horse amounted to 14| lb. It was 

 supposed at the time to have resulted from careless feeding with impure grain or rather 'pulse;' but this 

 is impossible, as only two or three ounces of sand could be swallowed as the result of the daily meal. At 

 this rate, as Hawkes observes, "it would take from 77 to 116 days to accumulate 14| lb. In con- 

 sequence of this earth-eating habit, he adds (from memory) it was found necessary, some twenty years 

 ago " to remove the mud-walls round the picket enclosing some of the horses of a mounted corps. If 

 the conclusion formed by Commissary Hawkes and others be correct, all foul-feeding horses and elephants 

 must either be suffering from Amphistomes or some other kind of internal parasites. Be this as it may, 

 any sanitary measures which prevent the ingress of parasitic larva; cannot fail to prove beneficial. In 

 like manner any agencies which prevent a parasite completing its life-cycle must be equally effective. 

 Thus clean water and fodder given to Elephants in captivity prevents the possibility of their contracting 

 either masuri or suorti. I think it extremely improbable that any Elephant should contract internal 

 parasites in this country. Mr. Steel thinks otherwise, and that, as regards the Trematodes, they, or 

 rather their larva;, " might make shift with an English mollusk." It is not, however, so much a question 

 of making shift on the part of a Cercarian as it is a question of an allotted or appropriate territory. Some 

 Trematode larva; are limited to one host, and others to a few hosts. In all cases there is a measure of 

 restriction ; aud I think we must therefore look to one or more Indian mollusks as the legitimate and 

 aud only bearers of the Cercarian larvse of Fasciola Jacksoni. But, as before hinted, the final settle- 

 ment of this question is not yet awhile. Eveu with a large accession of labourers in this field of re- 

 search, the process will be tedious, when it is considered how long a time, aided by frequent observation 

 and experiment, helminthologists have taken to acquire the meagre results already arrived at in con- 

 nexion with the parasites of cattle ; it is evident that as regards the origin of, and transformations under- 

 gone by the internal parasites of Elephants, we are only on the threshold of inquiry. It may be said, 



