84 COURSING 



the patient by their baneful influence. If, then, the puppies, 

 after weaning, grow emaciated, their backs round, and the 

 vertebrae distinctly limned ; if the ribs are tucked and easily 

 counted ; if the nose is dry, the coat staring, the breath foetid, 

 then the natural conclusion will be arrived at, and prompt 

 measures taken to remove the pests : but if no portions have 

 come away with the motions, it is difficult to determine the 

 variety of parasite with which the victims are infested. 

 There are two varieties frequently met with in recently weaned 

 puppies. First, the common tapeworm (Tania serrata\ 

 which in its disjointed existence is held by many writers to be 

 identical with the maw- worm, though 'Stonehenge' is inclined 

 to an opposite opinion, which we share, and for the same 

 reason viz. because the maw-worm is almost innocuous, 

 whereas the tapeworm proper produces the marked symptoms 

 of constitutional disturbance mentioned above. 



Of still more frequent occurrence is the round-worm 

 {Ascaris marginata), which, unlike the Tcenia serrata, is ac- 

 quired from liquids, especially cow's milk. Very few puppies 

 escape a visitation of these pests at some period or other of 

 their youth, but they are more easily got rid of than their flat 

 cousins, and the effects of their ravages soon disappear. 

 Even if puppies fail to show any signs of their presence, it is 

 as well to dose them all round a fortnight after weaning, and 

 the agent to employ is santonine. The patients should be kept 

 without food for at least twelve hours, when enough of the 

 powder to cover a sixpence, made into a bolus with butter, 

 should be administered ; half an hour later a dessert-spoonful 

 of castor-oil must be given, and the puppies taken out for 

 exercise ; and they should be carefully watched to see if they 

 void any worms. When the attendant is satisfied that round- 

 worms are present, he has nothing to do but to repeat the 

 treatment after the lapse of a week or so ; if, however, none 

 are passed and the symptoms of internal parasites continue to 

 be marked, the existence of the tapeworm may be suspected. 

 In this case the same preparation for medicine by fasting must 



