6 
living foreign bodies termed flukes—in the biliary ducts of 
the liver; increasing the flow of bile ; producing diarrhoea ; 
draining the system of its most essential matters with 
structural derangement, general and exhaustive debility 
dropsy and death. At the early period of contamination 
when the flukes are in the infinitesimal stage no bad effects 
are observed but rather the contrary which are due to the 
small creatures stimulating the action of the liver, inducing 
rapid assimilation and the accumulation of flesh. This period 
has received marked attention from some breeders who actu¬ 
ally put their cast-off breeding ewes on rot-producing pastures 
even occasionally flooding the land for this purpose, when the 
ewes flush up into condition and are soon ready for the but¬ 
cher. But this collection of flesh has short duration ; the flukes 
grow in size and the slight stimulating action reaches an 
irritative form, when the animals begin to show unmistakable 
signs of the affection, the continued increased secretion of 
bile—natures effort to wash the foreign bodies away makes a 
heavy call upon the system—diarrhoea supervenes, great 
emaciation, change of structure, dropsy and death. Seeing 
that the complaint can be produced when required by flock- 
masters, there can be little doubt about the nature of the 
disease being parasitic, and due to the bile-ducts of the liver 
being infested with 
LIVER FLUKES, 
of which there are two kinds ; the distoma kepaticum and 
distomalanceolatum , the latter being the smaller of the two, but 
of the same family. The trematoda , or flat suctorial worms, 
the history of which is most interesting, and since the intro¬ 
duction of that powerful instrument the microscope, naturalists 
