428 Journal of Agricultural Research voI.xii.no.? 



themselves to the mucosa like hookworms and whipworms. The writers 

 have usually found that any drug which is at all efficacious against hook- 

 worms is equally so against ascarids. 



Evidently the latex has defitiite anthelmintic properties, and although 

 its efficacy against hookworms {Ancylostoma caninum) and whipworms 

 (Trichuris depressiuscula) was very slight in this test, it is worthy of 

 further experimentation in repeated dosage. As the liquid expressed 

 from the latex appears to have no value as a vermifuge, the active prin- 

 ciple may be considered to reside in the solid portion sustained in the 

 latex in the form of an emulsion. 



SPIGEUA 



For worms in dogs. — Spigelia, or pinkroot, is the dried rhizome and 

 roots of Spigelia marilandica, a plant native to the Southern and South- 

 western States. Its virtues as an anthelmintic are said to have been 

 known to the Cherokee Indians. According to the U. S. Dispensatory, 

 19th edition,* it is generally considered among the most powerful 

 anthelmintics, and is used especially for roundworms. The fluid extract 

 is official. 



A test of the fluid extract of Spigelia was made by the junior writer. 

 In this experiment four dogs weighing from 4.8 to 18 kgm., all of which 

 were infested with hookworms, and one with whipworms, were treated 

 with Spigelia in doses graduated from 1.5 to 6 mils, according to the 

 weight of the dogs. The drug was followed by 194 to 324 mgm. of calo- 

 mel. The dogs were previously dosed with 29.57 mils of castor oil and 

 then starved for 24 hours. 



One dog was not killed, as it passed no worms. As the previous fecal 

 examination for this dog showed hookworms, it is evident that the drug 

 was ineffective in this case for hookworms. The three dogs remaining 

 passed altogether 6 hookworms, including 3 found in the rectum post- 

 mortem in the process of elimination. There were 199 hookworms left 

 unaffected by the treatment. Spigelia removed i out of 18 ascarids and 

 2 out of 29 whipworms. A few segments of Dipylidium caninum were 

 passed, but no heads. 



The remedy therefore appears to have but little efficacy as an anthel- 

 mintic for any of the common parasites of dogs, but further trial is advisa- 

 ble to determine this point. 



tobacco 



For worms in chickens. — Herms and Beach {1916) have devised a 

 method of treating poultry for worms, consisting in the administration 

 of chopped tobacco stems and the liquid in which they are steeped. 



Finely chopped tobacco stems, 453 gm. or i pound, enough for 100 

 birds, are soaked for two hours in enough water to keep them covered. 



1 Wood, G. B., and Bache, Franklin. Op. cit., p. 1162. 



