342 Veterinary Medicine. 



the dogs more than other sheep and appear paretic and foolish so 

 that they are called ' ' locoed. ' ' Faville attributed the ' ' loco ' ' 

 disease to the taeniae alone, but the poisonous action of the 

 "loco" weeds, Astragalus Hornii, A. lyentiginosus (in Califor- 

 nia, Vasey ), and A. Mollissimus, Oxytropis Lambertii, ( in Col- 

 orado, New Mexico, Kansas, Ormsby, Whipple, Rothrock, Ott, 

 Watson, Day), on horses and cattle which do not harbor this 

 parasite, and the experimental poisoning of rabbits, cats, frogs and 

 other small animals by these plants (Day), contradicts such hasty 

 conclusion. Curtice .suggests with greater plausibility that the 

 disorder of the liver and digestion by the taenia may cause the 

 sheep to take to eating the " loco " plants and may thus aggra- 

 vate the general affection or drive it to a fatal issue. The symp- 

 toms are in the main those of distomatosis, lung-worms and other 

 exhausting parasitic diseases. 



Lesions. The body is emaciated, the subcutaneous and inter- 

 nal fat being replaced by a watery serum. Dropsical accumula- 

 tions of serum subcutem, in the abdomen and sometimes in the 

 pleurae, pericardium, aracnoid or subaracnoid space, are some- 

 times found. The muscular system is pale and flabby. The gas- 

 tric cavities often contain masses of leaves of one or other of the 

 " loco " plants, in other cases ordinary iugesta only. The' duo- 

 denum has congested mucosa and contains many immature T. 

 Fimbriatse (2 to 30 or even 100, Curtice). These are one line to 

 an inch and upward in length (J^ inch in two months lamb, Cur- 

 tice). The common gall duct and the biliary ducts within the 

 liver contain the more mature worms up to five inches or a foot 

 in length. As in the duodenum, these remain attached to the 

 mucosa by the sucking discs on the head and body of the para- 

 site and extend along the duct toward the intestine following the 

 current of the liquid bile. Sometimes one or two are found in 

 the pancreatic duct as well. They enter these ducts when small, 

 and as they grow and encrease in numbers they cause distension, 

 so that the enlarged ducts stand out as white bands on the sur- 

 face of the liver or pancreas, as the case may be. The liver may 

 be the seat of congestion, softening, or other change. The bile 

 has u-sually the normal greenish yellow color, but when seriously 

 obstructed it may be inspissated. In advanced cases the kidneys 

 are usually pale and flabby. 



