Diseases of the Digestive System. 191 



enumerate them. The more common are stones, &c., 

 which the animals are taught to seize or carry, which may 

 be swallowed. Others have sharp prominences, and may 

 seriously wound some of the structures, producing a train 

 of morbid signs not always of simple interpretation, death 

 only revealing the true nature of the case as well as its 

 cause. 



Worms in the Stomach. — These consist of several 

 varieties of round as well as tape-worm, the chief of the 

 former being the Ascaris marginata, or marginated round 

 worm, and the Spiroptera sanguinolenta, and of the latter 

 Tcenia cucu?nerina, and more rarely Tcenia ccenurus, or gid 

 tape- worm of the sheep. 



Symptoms. — Nausea, retching, and vomiting proceed 

 first in order, accompanied with foetid breath, and a dry, 

 troublesome, husky cough. Subsequently the bowels are 

 irregular and colic ensues, with increase of the foregoing 

 symptoms, especially gastric disturbance, often termina- 

 ting with convulsions and death. Some dogs exhibit a 

 voracious appetite in the early stages ; notwithstanding the 

 animal becomes poor and even emaciated, and towards 

 the close there are signs of brain disturbance. 



Treatment. — An effective remedy consists of oil of tur- 

 pentine, one or more teaspoonfuls, proportionate to the 

 size and build of the dog, in combination with one to 

 three ounces of pure glycerine, followed in two or three 

 hours by a dose of olive oil, or the Castor Oil Mixture. 

 {See Aperients.) If needful these medicines may be 

 repeated in three days. 



Colic or Spasms, vulgarly known as Gripes, is a sign 

 of bowel derangement, spasmodic in nature, and unasso- 

 ciated with tendency to inflammation. The Causes are 

 irritants within the bowels, or the spasms may be due to 

 reflex act on arising from morbid derangement in other 

 organs, mostly the former, the irritants being foreign 

 bodies, impacted food, disease of stomach, bowels, liver, 

 or other contiguous organs. Colic is often present in 

 diseases induced by mineral poisons, as in lead colic^ and 

 also those dependent upon animal poisons developed 

 during certain diseases, as Distemper ; it is also a common 



