WORMS. 397 



from the debility and loss of condition, from which they had suf- 

 fered. The bisulphide is a strong antiseptic, and an efiective de- 

 stroyer of bacteria. Dr. Whitla remarks with reference to human 

 practice that " reports from Chili state that 2 oz. doses of a satu- 

 rated solution of the drug in water, when given with milk before 

 meals, relieved dysentery, dyspepsia, typhoid fever, etc." 



Tapeworms {Tanice). 



These have been found in the horse ; but so rarely that we need 

 not consider them here. Their presence more or less injuriously 

 afEects the animal's health. 



Worms {Nematodes). 



All the worms which are observed to come away from the 

 horse, whether naturally or by the influence of medicine, should be 

 thrown into a fire or into boiling water, so as to cut short their 

 power of evil. The free use of common or rock salt renders the 

 intestines of the horse a more or less unsuitable place of residence 

 for these parasites. As the eggs and embryos of several kinds of 

 the worms which infest the horse are to be found in water, es- 

 pecially when the water is stagnant ; the best preventive measure 

 is attention to the quality of the water consumed by the horse, 

 whether as drinking water, or as water adhering to forage, such as 

 grass, lucerne, roots, etc. The hotter the climate, the more does 

 stagnant water, other things being equal, teem with forms of 

 animal and vegetable life which, like the worms we are consider- 

 ing, are hurtful to the health of the horse. In India, the practice 

 adopted by native grass-cutters, of soaking the grass, so as to add 

 to its weight and to increase its apparent freshness, before giving 

 it to horses, is the cause of many of these animals becoming in- 

 fested with worms, on account of the water selected for damping 

 the grass being in many cases stagnant, and consequently polluted. 



The following are the chief kinds of worms found inside the 

 horse : — 



1. THE ROUND WORM (ascaris megalocephala) resembles an 

 earth worm in shape. It is yellowish-white in colour, stiff and 

 elastic. When full grown, it varies from 6 inches to 14 inches in 

 length, and generally resides in the small intestine ; although it 

 sometimes invades the stomach, in which its presence usually 

 causes great derangement of the horse's health. These parasites 

 probably gain entrance into the animal's body in the water he 

 drinks, or in the damp forage he eats. " The eggs which they lay, 

 are never hatched in the intestine, but are expelled with the dung '' 



