Parasites of the Kidneys and Vicinity. 455 



fodder, or in the intestinal contents, or by microbian invasions 

 elsewhere, congestions of the spinal cord or kidneys, renal 

 calculus, poisoning by ergot or smut, by the seeds of vetches, rye 

 grass, millet, or cotton, or by any one of the many narcotics, may 

 in turn produce a paresis, or paraplegia which by the swine- 

 breeder would be unhesitatingly attributed to the kidney worm. 

 Yet on the other hand the presence of multiple stephanurus cysts 

 under the loins, or still more so in the kidney or ureter, or as 

 Verrill suggests, in the spinal cord, might well bring about the 

 weakness of the hind limbs. 



If, however, along with the paretic symptoms, we can at the 

 same time find the elliptical ova of this worm, or of the Eustrong- 

 ylus Gigas in the urine, there need be no hesitation in incrim- 

 inating the parasites as prominent factors in the causation. 



Symptoms of Stephanurus are very problematical apart from 

 indications of hepatic, spinal or renal disease including of course 

 ascites. Yet \i post-mortem examinations, have demonstrated the 

 existence of the parasite in the locality, or herd, and if the ova 

 are found in the urine or faeces, the hepatic, renal or spinal dis- 

 order, and the ascites, occurring in a number of pigs in the .same 

 herd, simultaneously or in succes.sion, may be plausibly, or .some- 

 times confidently attributed to the kidney worm. 



Treatment. This is extremely un.satisfactory, mainly because 

 the worms are encysted in the solid tissues, in the midst of a pu- 

 rulent debris, so that any vermicide introduced by the mouth 

 could not be hoped to reach them in a sufficiently concentrated 

 form, and because that even from its diluted solution in the blood 

 the exosmosis into the worm-cyst is too limited to be in any degree 

 of value. 



Swine breeders usually resort to arsenic in large doses (10 or 20 

 grains or more), the general apparent harmlessness of which ar- 

 gues that it has been promptly rejected by vomiting. When 

 recovery follows, it seems to indicate that the disorder has been 

 hepatic or gastro-intestinal, and that the stimulus to stomach, 

 bowels and liver, and the attendant elimination have given relief. 

 If given at all as a vermicide for the encysted worms, the arsenic 

 would be most rationally given in .small physiological doses, con- 

 tinued for a length of time, but even then the hope of a good re- 

 sult can hardly fail to be disappointed. 



