The Nodular Worm. 47 



explained with the increa&e of the nodular worm infection. It is of 

 interest to mention that the parasite causing the nodules in the 

 intestines of sheep has first been described by American investigators, 

 yet the intestinal invagination has not been recorded from that country 

 so far as the writer is aware. One is therefore justified in thinking 

 that the presence of the nodules is not the only cause of the trouble, 

 although it may be a contributory one. This view has some support in 

 the fact that knop or rekziekte is not observed throughout South 

 Africa, whereas a moderate nodular worm infection is found 

 practically everywhere. Yery few sheep pass our post-mortem table 

 in which they are absent. Knopziekte is found in sheep of all ages 

 and of all conditions, although some farmers record its frequency 

 mainly in two-tooth sheep. The youngest animal noted by us was a 

 fifteen-months-old lamb. 



The septic infection apparently has been overlooked by farmers, 

 at least it was not brought to our noitice by them. We have 

 frequently observed it amongst sheep sent to us from the Karroo, 

 utilized for the production of blue-tongue vaccine. For this 

 purpose the sheep were placed in stables and the temperatures taken 

 regularly. We then found some abnormally high temperatures, 

 reaching 106° F. and more, and extending over a number of days. 

 When the daily records were plotted on paper a curve was obtained of 

 quite an irregular type. The animals during life showed no, or very 

 few, symptoms. Most frequently they were found dead in their 

 stable, having given no warning whatever; sometimes they were dull 

 and lying down ; their flanks appeared empty. The disease could not 

 be diagnosed with ceitainty during life. 



On post-mortem the striking lesions were tliose of a fibrinous or 

 purulent inflammation of the serous membranes of the abdominal 

 pleural and pericardial cavities. A turbid exudate was present and 

 a fibrinous to purulent deposit on the abdominal wall, the intestines, 

 and all other organs. The pleural cavity contained sometimes a con- 

 siderable quantity of turbid liquid, with threads of fibrin, and the 

 lining of both the costal as w^ell as the pulmonary pleura was covered 

 with a membrane of fibrin, that could easily be removed. The pleura 

 underneath was roughened and injected, sometimes diffusely, some- 

 times the larger vessels most distinctly. The lung tissue below the 

 inflamed parts in its superficial portions was sometimes collapsed and 

 had a bluish purple appearance. The pericardium also contained 

 fibrinous exudate which was deposited on the heart itself. The deposit 

 in most cases could be scraped off. It was also found on the inner and 

 outer wall of the pericardium, whose vessels then were injected, the 

 surface roughened and opaque. In other cases the deposit could no 

 longer be removed, it was adherent to the surface, and partial 

 organization had taken place. This also applied to the exudate in the 

 pleural and abdominal cavities. These cases represented a more 

 chronic course of the infection. In addition to these striking changes 

 other less striking ones were found in the parenchymatous organs, 

 which showed degenerative changes. Invariably in cases of septic 

 infection the presence of parasitic nodules was recorded in both the 

 small and large intestines, and amongst these some were found that 

 were nothing less than a small abscess that had burst into the 

 peritoneal cavity. This abscess could usually be found by careful 



