DISEASES OF SWINE 527 



Symptoms. Unless a number of ascarides are present in the 

 intestines, no marked symptoms of disease occur. Whenever the 

 pigs are kept under conditions unfavorable for growth, they usually 

 become infested with a large number of intestinal parasites, and 

 the irritation to the intestines will help in causing the animal to 

 become stunted. They also obstruct the passage of the food along 

 the intestines, and the maintenance of the colony of worms taxes 

 the animal to some extent. The symptoms shown do not differ 

 greatly from those seen in chronic indigestion. The presence of 

 worms in the faeces help very much in diagnosing the trouble. 

 Pigs weighing from twenty-five to one hundred pounos are the most 

 frequent sufferers. In thrifty old hogs, they are never present in 

 large enough numbers to cause any harm. Young hogs are some- 

 times very restless, and may manifest other nervous symptoms. 



Treatment. The preventive treatment is very important, and 

 consists in bettering the sanitary conditions under which the pigs 

 are kept. Wallow holes should not be allowed to form in the yaras, 

 the water supply should come from a deep well, and clean feeding 

 floors and watering troughs provided as far as possible. To enable 

 the pigs to resist invasion, they should be kept in good condition. 

 To destroy the worms or drive them out of the intestines, a number 

 of different drugs can be used. The simplest treatment for intes- 

 tinal worms is turpentine in milk. The dose given is one teaspoon- 

 ful of turpentine for every eighty or one hundred pounds of live 

 weight, and is more effective if repeated three days in succession. 

 A mixture of powdered areca nut and worm seed in teaspoonful 

 doses is also recommended. Santonin five grains and calomel three 

 grains for every eighty pounds of live weight is a very effective 

 remedy for round worms. All powdered drugs are best given in 

 ground feed and should be well mixed with it, or each pig will not 

 get the proper dose. In dosing a large number, they should be 

 divided into small bunches ana each bunch dosed separate. The 

 best results are gotten when the pigs are starved for about twelve 

 hours before giving the remedy, and when a physic is given along 

 with it or immediately after. Castor oil or calomel are the physics 

 usually given, especially the latter, as it is very effective and can be 

 readily given along with powdered drugs. Turpentine need not be 

 followed by a purgative. (Ind. B. 100.) 



THORN HEADED WORM. 



Among the parasites of the small intestines occurs one species 

 of the genus Echinorhynchus. It is usually found with its proboscis 

 imbedded in the wall of the small intestine, well toward the an- 

 terior part. It is seldom found in the large intestines. The round 

 and thorn headed worms are frequently present in the same animal, 

 but the two genera are quite distinct, and the most careless observer 

 is able to distinguish between them. The echinorhynchus is not as 

 common as the ascaride, and is not found in as large numbers. It 

 is uncommon to find more than five or six thorn headed worms in 

 the one animal. The loss occasioned by this parasite some years is 

 quite large. A single slaughter house in this state estimated their 



