The Digestive Oi'gans in Young Sheep, 643 



of tlio animal by generous diet. Here we may take such an agent 

 as turpentine in conjunction with a little balsam of sulphur and a 

 little oil, than which I do not know a nicer anthelmintic. Turpentine, 

 although a diuretic, is found to be got rid of in the animal system to 

 some extent through the medium of the resjiiratory organs. It is an 

 agent which becomes quickly diffused throughout the system of the 

 animal that takes it, affecting even the breath, the milk, and other 

 secretions. It acts powerfully on the kidneys and on the mucous 

 membranes of the lungs, and is an energetic destroyer of entozoa ; so 

 that persons may give turpentine, in conjunction with the old- 

 fashioned balsam of sulphur and a little oil, from day to day, with 

 considerable advantage to their lambs. This must be followed by the 

 use of sulphate of iron in the food of the animal, with corn diot ; and 

 much benefit will be found to ensue. 



II. The TEicocEPHAiiiTS. 

 We also find, particularly in the situations to which I have referred, 

 intestinal parasites, which are the cause gf the direct irritation of tho 

 mucous membrane of the alimentary canal, and are necessarily asso- 

 ciated with diarrhoaa. There are two foi^ms of worms particularly 

 which inhabit the intestinal canal and lay the foundation for diarrhoea. 

 One of them is a worm called, from the peculiarity of its formation, 

 the tricocephalus, or hair-headed worm. Though common in many 

 animals besides sheep, it exists to a greater extent in them than 

 among any other domesticated animals. These tricocephali are very 

 often a great source of mischief. They burrow their heads into the 

 mucous membrane, and exist more particularly in the cfccum and colon 

 than in any other of the large intestines, and but very rarely in the 

 gmaller. Dwelling there, and producing an irritation of the intestinal 

 canal, they cause the hurrying on of the contents of the intestines, 

 and diarrhoea, in fact, results from the local irritation. These worms 

 are with great diificidty diagnosed — that is to say, looking at the 

 sheep, we cannot at fii'st say whether they are or are not the cause of 

 diarrhoea. If, however, a large number of sheep are afiected, and a 

 good deal of mucous is discharged with the alvine evacuations, if all 

 ordinary means of arresting tho diarrhoea fail, and if tho animals, 

 although wasting, nevertheless have a tolerably good appetite, we may 

 come to the conclusion that tho diarrhoea is due to the presence of 

 worms ; for, as a general rule, when worms exist in the intestines of 

 almost any animal, there is rather an increase than a diminution 

 of the appetite. Generally speaking, when we eflect the expulsion 

 of the tricocephali, they come away in a mass. They have a peculiar 

 liking for each other ; for no sooner do they quit their hold of the 

 mucous membrane of the intestinal canal than they run together, 

 thus producing a large lump or mass. In this way they are usually 

 expelled ; and it is with difficulty that you can separate one of these 

 long-necked worms withoiit breaking it, in consequence of its neck 

 being twisted in all possible directions with that of others. 



The Sclerostoma. 

 Another kind of worm, not so well known as the tricocephalus, but 

 also the cause of diarrhoea in sheep, is the one designated sclerostoma. 



