DISEASES OF CATTLE 371 



microscopic size, which lives in the blood and attacks the red blood 

 corpuscles. Other parasites which live in the blood cause serious 

 diseases known as surra and nagana, but as yet neither of these 

 diseases has gained a foothold in the United States. 



PARASITES OF THE EYE. 



Roundworms sometimes seen swimming about in the anterior 

 chamber of the eye (snakes in the eye) are supposed to be imma- 

 ture stages of Filaria labiato-papillosa. Their location in the eye 

 is possibly due to their going astray from the normal course of 

 their migration. Treatment for these worms is surgical. They 

 often disappear without treatment. 



A species of slender roundworm, one-half an inch to an inch 

 in length, has been described, under the name of Filaria lachrym- 

 alis, as a parasite of cattle found in summer and fall beneath the 

 eyelids and on the surface of the eyeball, causing an inflammation 

 of the eyes. The worms may be removed by washing out the eyes 

 with an antiseptic, such as a weak solution of coal-tar stock dip, 

 after which iodoform ointment may be applied if the condition is 

 severe. 



HOOK-WORM DISEASE OF CATTLE. 



This disease, also referred to as bovine uncinariasis and salt 

 sickness, has been reported from Texas, Florida, and South Caro~ 

 lina, and is probably widely distributed throughout the Southern 

 States. C. F. Dawson, of the Florida Station, reports it as the most 

 common disease of cattle. Investigations by A. F. Conradi and E. 

 Barnett, at the South Carolina Station, have shown cattle to be 

 seriously infested with the hook worm, which is frequently asso- 

 ciated with other intestinal parasites, including the twisted wire- 

 worm or stomach worm, the inflated bowel worm, and the hair 

 w r orm. The disease as described by Doctor Dawson is an acute or 

 chronic parasitic disease manifested at first by low fever, diarrhea, 

 loss of appetite, soon becoming chronic, with continuance of low 

 fever, constipation, loss of appetite, progressive emaciation, and 

 pronounced anemia, which, in many cases, terminates fatally. 



Young animals are more susceptible than older ones, but all 

 ages may be affected. The nematode or roundworm (Monodontus 

 phlebotomus) , formerly described as Uncinaria radiata, is the ex- 

 citing cause of the disease. These worms, found principally in the 

 duodenum or first division of the small intestine, are provided 

 with an armature of sharp teeth, by means of which they pierce the 

 lining of the intestines and suck the blood, moving from place to 

 place. Other species of hook worm which affect sheep, dogs, cats, 

 foxes, man, and other animals should not be confounded with the 

 species that affects cattle. 



The adult worm is from one-half to five-eighths inch in length 

 and of the thickness of an ordinary pin. The eggs are deposited 

 in the intestinal tract and are discharged in the feces, through an 

 examination of which the extent of infestation can be determined. 

 Conradi and Barnett have observed a gorged female whose oviduct 

 contained more than 1,500 eggs, 17 of which were deposited in one 



