PARASITIC DISEASES I79 



seed in teaspoonful doses is also recommended. In 

 special cases it is well to follow the above with a 

 physic. 



THE KIDNEY WORM 



Sclerostoma Pinguicola — Verrill 



Stockmen are better acquainted with the intes- 

 tinal worms than they are with the kidney worm. 

 As its name indicates, it is a parasite of the kidneys 

 and the fat surrounding them. The kidney worm 

 is not as common as the intestinal forms, and is 

 not found in such large numbers. Its home is in 

 cysts and canals excavated in the tissues, and gen- 

 erally two or more worms are present in the one 

 cyst, together with a large number of eggs. 



Description. — The body is cylindrical in shape 

 and tapering toward the extremities, dark in color 

 and quite mottled. The female is from an inch 

 and a half to two inches in length, and the tail is 

 curved with a conical-shaped tip. The male is from 

 an inch to an inch and a half in length, and the 

 posterior extremity forms a blunt point. The mouth 

 in either sex is circular. 



The eggs are ovail-shaped and about one two- 

 hundred-and-fiftieth of an inch in length. 



Source of Infection.— The method of infection, or 

 the life history of the kidney worm, has never been 

 worked out, but no doubt infection occurs direct 

 from one hog to another without an intermediate 

 host. Some of the canals and cysts occupied by the 

 worms open into the pelvis of the kidney. The eggs 

 deposited in these cysts become mixed with the 



