312 OBSERVATIONS ON WORMS. 



on one occasion, when, on adding fresh vinegar to 

 some that had been given me by a friend full of 

 these eels, their motions from that day became 

 more and more languid, and in a fortnight's time 

 they were all dead. Previously to this, I had 

 kept them several weeks in the same vinegar in 

 which they had been brought to me. When these 

 little eels are immersed in sweet oil, or proof 

 spirit, their motions are much impeded, but vita- 

 lity is not immediately destroyed. 



LIVER FLUKE.* 



THIS parasitic worm is well known to be the cause 

 of rot in sheep, infesting the liver and biliary ducts 

 of that animal. A few individuals are to be met 

 with in most sheep ; but their presence seldom leads 

 to any fatal results, except when they occur in great 

 quantities. Such was the case in 1828; in the au- 

 tumn of which year, and during the ensuing winter, 

 the above-named disease prevailed generally in low 

 grounds in this neighbourhood, and in some of the 

 more marshy districts in the county raged to an 

 alarming extent. The previous summer had been 

 very wet, heavy rains continuing to fall without 

 intermission throughout July and August. 



According to the statement of the farmers in these 

 parts, sheep contract this disease by feeding upon 

 the long rank grass, which springs up abundantly 



* Fasciola hepatica, Linn. Distoma hepaticum of modern 

 helminthologists. 



