and buried by the mother, would, if the matter -were investigated, 

 be found to have been killed by round worms. This is one of 

 many points which might well be made the, subject of careful 

 inquiry. 



The pups are generally assumed, probably quite correctly, 

 to acquire the infection during suckling, the teats of the mother 

 fox having become contaminated with the eggs of the parasite 

 through contact with such material as soil, feces, or the bedding of 

 the nest. It is almost certain that the eggs of the round worm 

 exist, and survive the winter, in the soil of every ranch where 

 the parasite has been prevalent; and it is probably of some signifi- 

 cance that early litters, born while the snow is yet upon the ground, 

 are, as experienced caretakers maintain, less liable to suffer from 

 worjns than the later ones. Unfortunately many of the state- 

 ments made regarding round worms in the domesticated fox have 

 rested hitherto upon analogy rather than upon actual observation. 

 It is desirable that they should be tested upon the ground, and that 

 the precise mode in which the fox becomes infected, together with 

 the details of the parasite's life history in this particular host, 

 should be established once and for all in an authoritative manner. 



Another aspect of the subject wiiich deserves investigation 

 is the possibility of attacking the parasite not after, but before' 

 it has gained entrance into the new born pup. If it were possible 

 to destroy in the fall all the worms of eggs infesting the adult 

 foxes, the dens, and the soil of the ranch, there could be no infection 

 of pups in the following spring. This would be a more logical 

 method of procedure than the one now prevailing; whether it is a 

 practicable one can be determined only by experiment. 



The worms and their eggs, expelled as a result of treatment, 

 are frequently allowed to lie unmolested in the pens whprever 

 they happen to fall. In view of the highly resistant properties 

 of the eggs this would appear to be a very careless procedure. It 

 should be possible to devise some way by which they tould be 

 collected in one spot, and immediately destroyed. The observance 

 of such an elementary precaution would probably do something 

 to diminish the probability of reinfection. 



Widely as the round worm is now distributed among the 

 Island ranches, it would probably be an error to regard it as a 

 necessary evil. Ranches exist in which it is alleged that worms 



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