164 WORMS INFESTING THE DOG. 



connected with the development of its ova. They have caused a 

 great deal of controversy, but as they are not yet settled it is 

 scarcely worth while to encumber my pages with them. It has 

 been ascertained, without doubt, that the worm deposits an 

 immense number of eggs, which under the microscope have 

 somewhat the appearance of rough limpet- shells, and may be 

 also recognised by the naked eye in the faeces. There appears to be 

 little doubt that these ova are not hatched in the intestines of the 

 dog, but pass out with the faeces, and remain for months in a torpid 

 state, as I have already described. The accuracy of these state- 

 ments is of the greatest importance, as upon them depends a good 

 deal in the treatment by prevention, and expulsion of these worms ; 

 but though I see no reason to doubt the facts and theories of 

 the German writers on this subject, I do not think they are suffi- 

 ciently made out to be fully depended on. 



The MAW-WORM, whose scientific name I am unable to give, 

 for the reasons stated at page 154, is a white worm about an inch 

 to an inch and a quarter in length, with one extremity truncated, 

 and the other pointed (see engraving). These worms often exist 



Maw Worm. 



in large numbers, chiefly in the rectum and colon, but sometimes 

 extending to the small intestines. Of their generation and 



