168 Death of a horse from Worms. 



whole mischief, viz a s^r tat number of small worms ^ from 

 a quarter to three quarters of an inch in len.^th, attached 

 to the internal coat of this portion of the artery ; fijiving 

 it truly a worm eaten appearance. The worms, on exami- 

 nation, by Mr. Thomas Say, proved to be an intestinal 

 species, common in the horse : they must therefore have 

 eaten their way, from the small intestines of the animal, 

 into the mesenteric artery ; from whence they continued 

 their course to the aorta, destroying as they proceeded, 

 the internal coat. As their presence in this unnatural si- 

 tuation produced inflammation, coa^^ulated lymph was 

 thrown out between them and the current of blood, by 

 which they became in a manner incisted. 



The artery became enlaro;ed by their irritation, and 

 formed a species of aneurism ; particularly of the mesen- 

 teric artery, which eventually burst suddenly, after the 

 animal had eaten a full meal, and produced immediate 

 death, the usual termination of such cases. 



I beg the Society to accept of the specimens of the pa- 

 risitical animals accompanying this communication. The 

 artery is dissected and prepared (to be placed in my Mu- 

 seum) in uhich many of the worms are left in their situa- 

 tion on the interior of the aorta. 



The following description of the worm is extracted 

 from Cuvier. Regne animal, vol. IV. p. 34. 



Description. 



Le strongle du Cheval. Strongylas armatus. (Ru- 

 dolph i.) 



7. — 15.* long du deux pouces, a tete spherique dure, 



* Two inches long ; an hard spherical head ; its mouth furnish- 

 ed all round with liUle soft prickles ; the coat or skin of the male 

 separated into three leaves, or folds. 



This is the most comm«n of the horse-worms. It penetrates 

 as far as the arteries, where it occasions aneurisms. We find it 

 also in the ass^ and the mule. 



