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THE " NEW " RABBIT DISEASE. 



November 5th, 1918. 



Prof. E. W. MacBride, D.Sc, F.R.S., Vice-President, 

 in the Chair. 



Mr. D. Seth-Smith, F.Z.S., Curator of Birds, exhibited a 

 mounted specimen of a hybrid Cockatoo ( S Roseate Cacatua 

 roseica'p'illa X $ Lesser Sulphur-Crested C. sulphurea), bred in 

 1917 at Hartwell House, Aylesbury, by Mrs. Lee. 



Diagnosis of Helminth Infections. 



Dr. R. T. Leiper, M.D., D.Sc., F.Z.S., gave a lantern 

 exhibition on Diagnosis of Helminth Infections from the cha- 

 racter of the eggs in the faeces. He stated that, by examination 

 of the faeces of a living animal, the extent and specific nature of 

 most helminthic infections could be accurately determined, and 

 the method had been applied successfully as a routine practice 

 in the case of man, rabbit, dog, cat, and pig, and was apparently 

 capable of indefinite extension. 



The eggs of parasitic worms were constant in character and of 

 great systematic importance. The ground-plan of the egg-shell 

 indicated the genus or even subfamily to which the parasite 

 belonged, and specific differences were found in slight but con- 

 stant peculiarities in relative length and breadth, and in the 

 conformation of excrescences on the surface of the shell. 



The 11 New " Rabbit Disease. 



Dr. R. T. Leiper also gave a demonstration on the " new " 

 rabbit disease. Examination of a large number of rabbits shows 

 that the chief cause of mortality is a coccidial invasion of the 

 intestinal wall or of the lining of the bile-ducts. According to 

 Fantham and others the causal agent in both types of disease is 

 Eimeria stiedce, but Dobell holds that the intestinal lesion is due 

 to a distinct species. In many cases changes in the liver attri- 

 buted to coccidiosis were the result of infection with Cysticercus 

 pisiforniis, the larval stage of the clog tapeworm Taenia serrata. 

 Large swellings in the region of the head and neck, suspected to 

 be cancerous, were due to Coenurus serialis, the larva of the 

 dog tapeworm Taenia coenurus. Of relatively small economic 

 importance are infections with the threadworm Oooyuris ambiguus 

 and the tapeworm Ctenotcenia leuckarti. There is some evidence 

 that a bacterial infection may occasionally be the cause of death. 



The coccidial infections pass from infected to healthy animals 

 through the faeces. When freshly passed the coccidial oocysts 



