256 On the Domestic Veterinary Treatment of 
the preparation will be found in the list of necessary medicines 
at the end of this essay. 
Parasites. — Worms of various sorts inhabit the intestinal canal 
and other organs of digestion, and induce irritation, which is 
often associated with diarrhoea and general unthriftiness. Horses, 
cattle, and sheep, are victims in different degrees to the ravages 
of parasites. It is only necessary to allude to tape-worms in 
lambs, and the destructive fluke-disease, to show that internal 
worms have much to answer for in the matter of disorders of 
the digestive system ; but the subject of parasitic diseases is far 
too extensive to be dealt with in a mere sketch of the common 
diseases of farm stock to which common domestic remedies are 
applicable. It may, however, be remarked that for horses a 
general find effective worm-killer is to be found in the agent 
santonine, which may be given in doses of 15 grains in a ball 
with 3 drachms of aloes, and repeated in a few days if necessary ; 
while for worms in the digestive organs of sheep no remedy has 
yet been found which equals in efficacy common salt. Powdered 
charcoal has recently been advocated, and, being a harmless 
agent, is worthy of fair trial. 
Diseases of the Breathing Organs. — Atmospheric changes 
naturally exercise great influence on the breathing organs, and 
in a variable climate derangement of those organs is of con- 
stant occurrence. The ordinary term " cold," is used to express 
different forms of respiratory disorder with which actual cold 
has often little or nothing to do. Warm, moist weather is more 
fruitful in cases of common cold than really cold seasons are, 
and it has been remarked that the words catching a heat would 
be more accurate than the usual form " catching a cold." 
The ordinary symptoms of a cold are — dullness, loss of appe- 
tite, redness of the mucous membranes, of the eyes, nostrils, and 
mouth, with irritability of the air-passages, as evidenced by the 
occurrence of cough when cold air is drawn into the wind- 
pipe. Discharge from the nose and eyes appears as the disease 
advances, and in severe cases the extension of the irritation to 
the bronchial tubes leads to difficulty in the breathing. Cattle 
cough or " hoose " frequently when in health, and so do sheep ; 
but there is a difference which the practical observer can appre- 
ciate between the habitual " hoose," and the cough which is due 
to irritation of the mucous membrane lining the air-tubes. 
Treatment of a common cold is always carried out on a routine 
system by the aid of certain drugs, which are presumed to have 
a specific effect ; but it may be questioned whether either man or 
the lower animals can be cured of a cold by the agency of 
medicines. 
Good nursing is undoubtedly beneficial in common colds, and 
