ASCARIS MARGINATA. 325 
most favorable opportunities for infection are afforded, as will appear from 
the following : 
The eggs are laid in the intestines of their hosts, and expelled with the 
waste matters in great numbers and sometimes in great masses, and once in 
the world they retain their vitality for a long time. After being expelled it is 
necessary for these eggs to mature, and they do so speedily in fecal matter, 
water, or damp places; and this essential stage of development having been 
completed, all is in readiness for the final stage. Now let the eggs be taken 
up and enter a stomach, and the young worms will burst the shells, softened 
by the gastric juice, and speedily mature. 
Such in brief is the course of infection with this worm; and considering 
the ease with which it occurs, it is not at all surprising that puppies rarely 
escape it. 
A mother harboring the pests is constantly throwing out of her body large 
quantities of eggs, and these are deposited about in her kennel and yard, in 
which, even if the fecal matter is removed daily, some are sure to be left, and 
find here and there, upon the floor, sleeping-bench, and ground, the moisture 
which is necessary to their development. Assuming now that she has been 
treated for worms, and all she had have been expelled, still she is a menace, 
for she must take up immense numbers of these eggs in her coat, and carry 
them with her wherever she goes. Consequently, if removed from her usual 
quarters she must soon become infested, through some of those scattered by her 
over the floor, on her bedding, etc. 
Clearly there is now absolutely nothing to prevent her puppies from ingest- 
ing these eggs, even during the first days of life, and swallowing them direct 
from her breast, hair, bedding, or the floor; and even did infection not occur 
in this way, it must soon occur through the food or drinking-water, from which 
it would be simply impossible to keep the eggs, lying about as they are in such 
abundance. 
In this connection it is well to plainly point to the fact that if a mother is 
free from worms at the time of whelping, her puppies will be far less liable to 
suffer from such pests during the earliest months of life; hence a mildly acting 
vermifuge should be administered between the sixth and seventh weeks after 
mating. And thereafter, twice daily, until her puppies are born, she should 
take of the sulphate of iron one grain if of medium size breed; two grains if 
of the largest breed; one-half a grain if of the size of fox-terriers; and one- 
fourth of a grain if a toy terrier. 
This tonic, which is very unfriendly to worms, should be administered in 
powdered form, and thrown to the patient, concealed in thin slices of beef. 
When the foregoing treatment has been applied the chances of trouble in 
consequence of worms cannot be great; but, nevertheless, decided symptoms 
of them may be manifested. If so, to give either of the most popular worm- 
