CONDITION OF UNCINAEIATED PUPS. 79 



can always be told from those which have died from starvation, and the intermediate 

 cases when death has resulted from starvation following an attack of the parasite 

 are also readily recognizable. 



The pups which have died from Uncinaria alone are invariably fat, and their flesh 

 is anaemic and yellowish; those which have succumbed to starvation alone show no 

 trace of fat and their flesh is dark and purplish. Those in which starvation has 

 followed an attack of the parasite exhibit more or less of an intermediate condition, 

 more or less fat being present, according to the extent of the infection. Thus if the 

 infection is extensive the animal will succumb quickly to the added starvation and 

 some little fat will be present, while if the infection be light subsequent starvation 

 will act slowly and only traces of fat will be present. Other things being equal, the 

 condition of the kidneys affords very good evidence of the cause of death, since they 

 are shrunken and congested in the starved animals; anaemic and rather soft in those 

 which have died from Uncinaria, and in an intermediate state in cases of Uncinaria 

 combined with starvation. 



The original place of the attack is at or near the median portion of the small 

 intestine, although in one severe case the Uncinaria reached to within 3 feet of the 

 pylorus. The infection may occupy but 3 or 4 feet of the intestine, whil^ in the 

 worst case examined all save the uppermost 7 feet were more or less infected with the 

 parasite, and in the later stages, as noted by Mr. Snodgrass, even the upper part of 

 the large intestine may be involved, although this happens rarely. 



In typical cases the diseased part is marked by slight nodular swellings, in other 

 cases it is more uniformly distended along the bad part, while in other cases the 

 intestine is thick, less elastic than in health, and abnormally pale. In still other 

 cases, where death is due to inflammation caused by the presence of Uncinaria, and is 

 not directly due to their attacks, the intestine is slightly inflamed. The majority of 

 deaths are directly due to loss of blood ; next in number are the instances where the 

 animal has apparently withstood the attack, but the intestine has lost its power to 

 assimilate food which passes through it undigested. These are the cases where the 

 intestine is thick and pale and examination reveals the presence of numerous small 

 oyst-like spots where the parasites were attached. Deaths from inflammation set up 

 by the Uncinaria are the least numerous of all. 



I am indebted to Mr. Snodgrass for the following notes on the condition of intes- 

 tines of pups infected by Uncinaria, and on the development of the eggs. 



The small intestine of a pup that has died of Uncinaria is, -when the pup is recently dead, enlarged 

 and of a whitish color. The walls are swollen and easily torn. Usually about the posterior third 

 only is affected. At irregular hut short intervals, the affected part is distended by oval enlargements. 

 The walls of these places are usually no more swollen than the walls elsewhere'. The enlargement is 

 due to the collection of a dark, reddish-brown, or a reddish (due to blood) colored mass of mucus 

 in the intestine. The worms are present only in the distended places, generally numbering from one 

 to ten or twelve in each, and are very evidently the cause of the collection of mucus and blood. In 

 pups that have just died, each Uncinaria is attached by one end within a small pit on the wall of the 

 intestine. 



Only the upper end of the large intestine is ever affected, worms having been found .only in a very 

 few cases lower down than about the first 6 or 7 inches, and generally the most of them are crowded 

 into a much smaller place near the anterior eiid. In one case a few were found scattered along to 

 near the posterior end, and several other worms have been found back of the middle. Since the 

 middle of August cases were very common in which no worms were present in the small intestine, 

 although all appearances strongly indicated that they had been there, but in which a large number 



