540 



DISEASES OF THE ItlDNEYS. 



worm (Dioctopliyme viscerale) of dogs and man. Both of these parasites 

 belong to the same zoological family (Strongylidae), but to different sub- 

 families and genera. The kidney worm of dogs growls to a length of 

 1 to 3 feet. The kidney worm of hogs is much smaller, attaining at 

 most something less than 2 inches in length. 



The body of the worm is plump, mottled in color — red, yellow, white, 

 black — according to the organs visible beneath. The average female is 

 about 37 mm. and the average male 32 mm. in length. The worms 

 seem to occur in pairs, usually in cysts or canals ; thus, upon the exami- 

 nation of two kidneys with their surrounding fat, fifteen specimens were 



S.'Si 



Fig. 233. — Embryos of Sclerostoma pinguicola. (Louise Taylor, Annual 

 Eeport, U.S.A. Bureau of Animal Industry, 1899, p. 634.) 



found, seven males and eight females. The connective tissue layers 

 between the fat were found to be the most general seat of infection, and 

 the cysts were numerous and closely packed together. Although a cyst 

 usually contained two worms, a male and a female, sometimes three were 

 found together, two females and one male, or just as often one female 

 and two males. The cysts contained pus, which bathed the parasites, 

 and in which were thousands of eggs in the segmentation stage. Still, 



