2 MISC. PUBLICATION 7 9, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 



lowed by May-beetle larvae or other beetle larvae as they feed in 

 manure from infested swine or on soil contaminated with such ma- 

 nure. In the beetle, the young worm escapes to the body cavity, 

 where it encysts. The encysted worms remain in the body cavity 

 after the metamorphosis of the beetle larvae to adults. When swine 

 eat either the larvae or the adult beetles, the insects are digested, and 

 the worms are released to develop to maturity in the intestine of the 

 pig. In order to prevent infestation, swine would have to be pre- 

 vented from rooting over areas infested with the grubs and be so 

 confined that they would not have an opportunity to ingest adult 

 beetles. Not only would this be difficult, but in additiun the eating 

 of grubs by swine is an aid in controlling the grubs. While it is 

 possible to apply methods for keeping down grub infestation in the 

 soil, the complete prevention of thorn-headed-worm infestation 

 would obviously be a difficult and expensive procedure. In view 

 of this fact, it is highly desirable to have an anthelmintic which is 

 effective against these worms. 



REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE REPORTING EXPERI- 

 MENTAL RESULTS 



Calandruccio (1), in 1890, reported the removal, from himself, 

 of 53 thorn-headed worms, Moniliformis moniliformis, with no evi- 

 dence of worms present subsequently, following the administration 

 of a dose of 8 grams of ethereal extract of male fern, and Hall (£) 

 suggested, in 1922, that male fern may be of value for removing 

 thorn-headed worms from swine. Raffensperger's experiments, re- 

 ported in the following section of this publication, and those of 

 Wolff hugel (9) quoted below, indicate that the drug is apparently 

 without action on Macracanthorynchus hirudinaceus. 



Connaway, Backus, and Tucker, as reported by Mumford (8) 

 stated, in 1915, that in their experiments " copper sulphate was 

 found to be the most efficient in expelling the thorn-headed worm." 

 However, the protocols are not given for these experiments, and 

 the percentage of efficacy is not stated. In the absence of such 

 critical information, judgment on the value of copper sulphate for 

 the removal of the parasite in question must be withheld. 



Wolffhtigel (P), in 1924, tested a large number of preparations for 

 the removal of thorn-headed worms, all the drugs showing little or 

 no value for that purpose. Wolffhugel's results are given in the 

 following summary: 



Oil of turpentine, 12 grams in sweet oil, to one 8-montlis-old pig, followed 

 in 3% hours by 5 grams of powdered aloes and 10 grams of magnesium sul- 

 phate, removed 1 thornhead and left numerous others. 



Santonin was given to an 8 to 9 months old pig in a dose of 1 gram with 

 100 grams of castor oil in dry clay. Two days later the animal received 5 

 grams of santonin, and seven days later 9 grams of santonin with 50 per cent 

 alcohol administered with a syringe, followed in 3 and one-half hours by 

 10 drops of croton oil in olive oil. The pig died the next morning. No worms 

 were passed following the treatment, but 18 thornheads were found on post- 

 mortem examination. Santonin, therefore, was entirely ineffective against 

 thornheads. 



Extract of male fern was given to one pig in a dose of 6.7 grams with 20 

 grams of sulphuric ether. Nine days later the pig was given 10 capsules, each 

 containing 0.33 gram of male fern, followed by milk. The next morning 5 

 grams of male-fern extract were given, followed in three hours by 20 drops of 

 croton oil in 250 grams of olive oil. The treatment was entirely ineffective. 



