404 INTERNAL PARASITES. 



" When recently discharged, they are the colour of arterial blood, 

 but they dry up rapidly and the colour becomes darker, and they 

 thus easily escape the notice of the casual observer. . . . The 

 temperature is often sub-normal; appetite usually impaired, often 

 capricious ; and indigestion, with abdominal pains, is by no means 

 an uncommon complication '' (JVilhie). Formerly the disease was 

 often called pernicious anaemia or water farcy. 



The gravity of the case depends chiefly on the youth of the 

 animal and on the number of worms that are in him. As the 

 adult parasites are blood-suckers, and as the immature ones cause 

 irritation to the intestine while they are in their cysts, we can 

 easily understand how death often occurs from exhaustion and 

 diarrhoea, in which blood is sometimes found. It is probable that 

 the disease is chronic, only when fresh relays of these worms are 

 imported into the intestine from time to time; because the eggs 

 are carried out along with the dimg, and adult worms are frequently 

 expelled in the same manner, in varying numbers. Hence, if the 

 patient is removed from further infection, we may reasonably infer 

 that the chance of his recovery will be far greater, than if his 

 system remains exposed to the continued entrance of these 

 parasites. 



Treatment. — ^Recently, the good effects of thymol in this disease 

 has been amply proved. It may be given daily in doses of from 

 10 to 15 grains for four or five days, followed by a drench of 

 linseed oil, suitable in quantity to the age and size of the patient 

 (p. 607). Thymol is most easily given in dry food. The best 

 method for its administration is in a gelatine capsule, as a ball. It 

 is insoluble in water, but the amount here prescribed would readily 

 dissolve in a glass of whisky or other spirits, which could be mixed 

 in a pint of milk. Dr. Whitla, writing about human practice, says 

 that thymol " should never be given in solution, as it causes a 

 burning sensation in the throat and mouth." Thymol can be 

 repeated as may be required. 



The strength should be kept up by liberal feeding, such afi hens' 

 eggs (from 6 to 12 daily) and com ; and about 4: oz. of common 

 salt should be mixed through the food every day. In the case 

 of an animal at grass, the corn should be supplied gradually, so 

 that his digestive organs may become accustomed to it. Care 

 should be taken that the water he gets is absolutely free from 

 parasites. 



5. FILARIiE are thread-like worms, which, when full grown, 

 are from, say, 2 to 6 inches in length. Their tails are more or 

 less curled. They are usually found in the serous sacs, such as the 

 cavity of the abdomen, that of the chest, that of the pericardium 



