254 Veterinary Medicine. 



rises to the dignity of a plague, and renders sheep farming un- 

 profitable. It is most severe in the lambs and yearlings, though 

 no age is exempt, and is very fatal. The most remarkable post- 

 mortem phenomenon is the presence of myriads of the worms 

 fa.stened to the mucosa by their mouths, and in some cases virtu- 

 ally hiding portions from view. The mucosa is usually pale but 

 may be bloody or ulcerated, and the contents .sanguinolent. The 

 organ is usually dilated. The contents of the large intestine are 

 liquid, and the wool of the tail and hips are usually stained with 

 the black feculent discharges. 



Other worms are usually present in large numbers in the 

 stomach and intestines and especially in the lungs, so that the 

 helminthiasis is a complicated one. 



One of the prominent features is the anaemic state of the blood. 

 There is an excess of water and a deficiency of red globules, with 

 many peculiar cells larger than the normal red globules, and dis- 

 torted — scutiform, pyriform or claviform. These may be the 

 red globules distended by the dilute condition of the blood 

 plasma. 



Symptoms. These are those of a pernicious anaemia, marked 

 by a gradual loss of condition, unhealthy wool, pale mucosas and 

 skin, disappearance of the subcutaneous fat (paperskin), dulness, 

 langor, impaired or capricious appetite, thirst, tympanies and 

 diarrhoea with black discharges, fouling the tail and hips. Worms 

 are rarely seen in the faeces, yet a close search may discover the 

 embryos. History and environment will, however, contribute to 

 a sound diagnosis, the victims are largely lambs and yearlings, 

 the pa.stures have a reputation for fatality, and contain stagnant 

 water or wet portions, the outbreaks take place mainly in spring 

 and summer, and there is often coexistent trouble from pulmo- 

 narj' helminthiasis, the parasites of which have a similar life his- 

 tory out of the body. 



Prevention. This will consist mainly in the avoidance for 

 pasturage for young sheep of lands known to be infested, of lands 

 through which flow streams coming through infested pastures, of 

 breeding sheep that are from flocks harboring the parasite, of 

 pastures that have been overstocked with sheep earlier in the 

 season, of pastures wet with morning dew or rains, of pasture on 

 wet ground or in wet seasons when the grasses are easily torn up 



