INTESTINAL WORMS. 101 



INTUSUSCEPTION OF THE INTESTINES. 



This is another evil arising from a long-continued spas- 

 modic action of the ileum, which sometimes causes an 

 inverted pressure from the ctecum towards the stomach, 

 which overcomes the natural action, whicli forces this con- 

 tracted portion of the intestine into a portion above it, 

 wliich retains its natural calibre. The irritation thereby 

 produced increases the upward action, and causes still 

 more of the intestine to be forced inwards, until an obstruc- 

 tion of an insurmountable character is produced. Continued 

 and unmitigated pain is the only symptom which may 

 lead to a suspicion that this incurable malady has taken 

 place. 



INTESTINAL WORMS. 



A variety of worms inhabit the intestines of horses, and 

 when they become numerous often prove injurious to the 

 constitution of the animal. Although a respectable writer 

 says they are not of much consequence unless they are 

 numerous, we would recommend that the sooner they are 

 expelled the better, however small the number may be, tor 

 this simple reason — that where there exists a single pair, 

 there will naturally be an increase of their species. It 

 is perfectly true that by what means they at first effect a 

 lodgement into the animal system is a mystery yet to 

 be solved ; but it is equally true that naturalists have 

 detected that these parasites are formed male and female., 

 and as Nature frames nothing in vain, they must propagate 

 in the ordinary manner of reproduction. 



Symptoms. — Loss of appetite, griping pains, a rough coat, 

 and tucked-up belly, are symptomatic of worms of the 

 larger species, lumbricus teres, or long white round- worms 



