216 DISEASES DUE TO INTERNAL PAEASITES. 



is caused by irritation of the mucous membranes of the aliment- 

 .ary canal, owing to the presence of the tapeworm, scientifically 

 termed the taenia expansa. Many writers report having ob- 

 served cases of diarrhoea in sheep and lambs where segments of 

 tapeworm were found in the faecal discharges. In 1877 an out- 

 break occurred in Central Park, New York, in which the in- 

 testines of lambs were filled with taeniae ranging from one to 

 fifteen feet in length. The animals were unwell for two or 

 three days, then, becoming affected with convulsions, would 

 turn round in a circle and drop dead. Cross of Shrewsbury, 

 Eng., the same year reports a case of scouring in lambs, in which 

 innumerable segments, with double sexual organs and unarmed 

 heads, were found in the alvine discharges. Cobbold also re- 

 ports large losses in Australia, due to the same pests, and Gamgee 

 also states that in Australia an enzooty, due to taeniae in lambs, 

 is of frequent occurrence, especially on land which is over- 

 stocked. Where tapeworm is suspected in a flock of sheep, an 

 examination of the soil (after a heavy rain) on which they have 

 been folded will often reveal the segments, washed free from 

 the faecal matter. Cooper Curtice in the Government report of 

 1890 states that "no section of the United States seems to be 

 entirely free from it," and further says: "It was introduced into 

 this country from Europe along with the imported flocks, which 

 harbored it." 



Description of the parasite. 



Length variable, tlie largest measure from five to six yards 

 in length and from one-twenty-fifth of an inch in breadth at the 

 head to one-half an inch at the tail. The head is generally small 

 and pointed, the neck very short, if discernible at all, the first 

 segments are very short, the others as they proceed backwards 

 to the tail becoming longer and broader. The head is small at 

 the end, and is furnished with four suckers. The body of the 



