DISEASES AND PARASITES OF MAMMALS 93 



and mountain sheep, the rinderpest, one of Africa's great scourges, 

 and other diseases. 33 According to Roosevelt the rinderpest about forty 

 years ago almost exterminated the buffalo in Africa. 34 Many other 

 diseases are known among African game mammals. 35 



A great many, if not all, wild mammals harbor internal parasites. 36 

 Intestinal and stomach worms are very much more common than is 

 generally realized, even by naturalists who have not made special 

 studies of the subject. In laboratory dissections of dogs and cats it is 

 common to find many such organisms, and some wild mammals ex- 

 amined have been found with stomachs entirely filled with worms. In 

 addition to the well-known tapeworms, human beings are subject to 

 many other internal worms. Dixon, in examining many wild mammals, 

 found that 7.5 per cent of the contents of stomachs of a considerable 

 number of wildcats, and 10.4 per cent in case of skunks, consisted of 

 parasitic worms. 37 Numerous large stomach worms were found in a 

 sea-elephant. 38 



Many of the wild mammals, or all of them, are also afflicted by 

 external parasites. 39 Some of them, such as lice, perhaps do little or 

 no harm, but some of them, particularly the internal ones, are cer- 

 tainly very harmful. Some of the species of external parasites, such 

 as certain ticks, are carriers of fatal diseases. Even those that are not 

 carriers of disease organisms are very annoying. Roosevelt tells of 

 the great number of ticks infesting zebras and various large game 



33 Hornaday, Our vanishing wild life, pp. 82-87, 1923. 



34 Roosevelt, African game trails, p. 288, 1910. 



35 Percival, Game and Disease, Journ. East Africa and Uganda Nat. Hist. Soc., 

 No. 13, pp. 302-315, 1918. 



36 See, for example : Hall, Nematode parasites of mammals of the orders Rodentia, 

 Lagomorpha and Hyracoidea, Proc. U. S. Natl. Museum, L, 1-258, 1916; A new 

 nematode, Rictularia splendida, from the coyote, with notes on other coyote para- 

 sites, ibid., XLVI, 73-84, 1913; A new rabbit cestode, ibid., xxxiv, 691-699, 1908; 

 A new species of cestode parasite of the dog and the lynx, ibid., xxxix, 139-151, 1910. 

 Schwartz, A new proliferating larval tapeworm from a porcupine, ibid., LXVI, 1-4, 

 1924; A new parasitic nematode from an unknown species of bat, ibid., LXXI, 1-4, 

 1921 ; Description of Ancylostoma pleuridentatum, a hookworm of the carnivores, 

 ibid., LXXII, 1-9, 1927. Stiles, A revision of the adult tapeworms of hares and rabbits, 

 ibid., xix, 145-235, 1896. Price, A new nematode from the pronghorned antelope, ibid., 

 LXXI, 1-4, 1927. Ransom, The nematodes parasitic in the alimentary tract of cattle, 

 sheep and other ruminants, U. S. Bureau Animal Industry Bull. No. 127, 1911 (in- 

 cludes parasites of deer, moose and other wild mammals) ; Hookworms of the genus 

 Uncinaria of the dog, fox and badger, Proc. U. S. Natl. Museum LXV, 1-5, 1924. 

 Wislocki, Nematode parasites of the ovaries of the ant-eater, Journ. Mammalogy, 

 ix, 318-319, 1928. There are numerous other papers discussing parasites of wild 

 mammals in various parts of the world. Seton, Lives of game animals, 4 vols., 2 

 parts each, 1929; discusses parasites of many species and diseases of some. 



37 Dixon, Journ. Mammalogy, vi, 34-46, 1925. 



38 Huey, Journ. Mammalogy, v, 241, 1924. 



89 Ferris, Concerning lice, Journ. Mammalogy, in, 16-18, 1922. 



