TAPE WORM. 483 



merits. The faeces and intestinal mucus contained in the large 

 intestine, behind which they hide themselves, serve them for a 

 breastwork and a parapet. If one attacks them from in front with 

 vermifuges, these become so weakened by the long march through 

 the small intestine that the worms only laugh at them. If we 

 attack them in the rear with heavy artillery, the foreposts stationed 

 in the rectum must certainly succumb ; but the heaviest bombard- 

 ment cannot reach those encamped in the caecum ; and so long as 

 ever so few remain behind, in some hiding place, they, from the 

 amazing rapidity with which they are reproduced, soon again 

 become a large army." 



For the temporary relief of the animal, we make use of an 

 injection as per prescription No. 4. This will also effect a cure if 

 used repeatedly, and the injection be carried high up by means of ' 

 a gutta-percha rectum tube ; but this should be left to the experi- 

 enced practitioner. Also physic should be given occasionally, 

 especially aloes, which increases the fetid secretions peculiar to the 

 rectum of the dog, and thereby becomes in a measure fatal to the 

 worms that have found lodgment in that portion of the alimentary 

 tract. 



TAPE WORM. 



Tcenia ellipHca : This is a delicate tape worm common to the 

 canine race, and is safd to be propagated by means of the dog 

 louse, (Trichodectes canis) which the embryo inhabits. It meas- 

 ures from one hundred to three hundred millimeters in length, and 

 the head is furnished with a rostellum, which the animal has the 

 power of projecting forwards, on which are placed about sixty 

 hooks, arranged irregularly in three or four rows. The anterior 

 portion of the body is like a thread, and the segments are very 

 short ; more posteriorly they become somewhat longer. As they 

 become ripe, the divisions between the segments become more and 

 more marked, so that the worm presents a chain-like appearance. 

 The ripest segments have a reddish white color, and very readily 

 become detached. They creep about actively in the intestine, and 

 are either expelled with the faeces or escape of themselves. In 

 each segment there is a double set of sexual organs, and there is 

 a genital pore situated on the margin of the segment. This 



