CONGENITAL HYDATIDS IN A LAMB. 
551 
was quite imperceptible, and patches of cold sweat were breaking 
out on different parts of the body. She did not then appear in 
very acute pain, though, in the morning, the owner told us, 
she had shewn symptoms of gripes. She died in the afternoon 
of the same day; and when opened the ileum was found ruptured 
for about the space of a foot, and a great quantity of the fsecal 
matter was extravasated into the cavity of the abdomen. 
CONGENITAL HYDATIDS IN A LAMB. 
By Mr. Robert Reed, Crediton 
I SEN D you a case of what I consider to be Congenital Hydatid 
in a lamb ; and having never seen such an one recorded, it may 
prove something new in the annals of veterinary science. 
In the month of February of the last year, I was called on to 
return the uterus of a ewe, the property of W. Dicker, Esq. of 
IJaske; which being done, my attention was directed to a lamb, 
two days old, dropped with a soft tumour on the head, having 
convulsive twitchings of the legs and head, also a spasmodic 
twisting of the neck, and utter inability to stand. 
On examination I found the tumour the size of a small marble. 
To my surprise, on pressing it within the skull, all the symptoms 
instantaneously ceased, and the lamb stood and sucked : when the 
pressure was removed, by taking away my thumb, they instantly 
returned with all their former severity. I made use of no reme¬ 
dial means, by my employer’s wish, and expressed an anxious de¬ 
sire to have the lamb after its death. On dissection, I found the 
hydatid cyst, both internal and external, to be as large as a 
small walnut. There was a considerable depression in the sub¬ 
stance of the brain ; I should say not absorption, but only an 
indentation, as the covering of the brain under the hydatid cyst 
was entire, although by its pressure on the bony covering it had 
caused an opening, by absorption, large enough to admit that 
portion of the cyst before described. The circular edge of the 
aperture in the bone was very thin, but it became thicker as it 
receded at a little distance from the edge. The fluid in the cyst 
was very pellucid, except in the middle, where the hydatid was 
observable in the form of a semicircular clouded spot. 
During my practice in a large sheep and cattle district, for 
many years, this is the only instance I ever witnessed. 
As to any remarks respecting the origin, I sliall oflbr but few. 
It is certain tiie ova (or as some think animalcnlie) could not 
be taken in witli the food, but must have leaclied the brain 
