5.^6 DEATH OF SHEEP FROM WORMS IN THE STOMACH. 
our readers numerous cases of the kind, giving our views 
with regard to the probable cause of these entozoa. 
To the Editor of the f Mark Lane Express? 
Sir,—-I should feel obliged if you or any of your numerous 
correspondents could give me any information on the fol¬ 
lowing subject. I have of late lost several ewes, but from 
what cause I am at a loss to know, until the other day, 
when, on opening one of them, my shepherd discovered a 
large quantity of small thread-like worms (rolled up in balls 
about the size of a walnut) in the second (?) stomach. As I 
never met with an instance like it before, I should be glad to 
know if there is any remedy which can be applied. I send 
for your inspection the worms taken from the sheep that 
died yesterday. 
I am, sir, 
Yours respectfully, 
Jno. Hayward. 
Sutton ; July 26, 1861. 
To the Editor of the ( Mark Lane Express? 
My dear Sir, —I have examined the worms which you 
forwarded to me, as having been received from Mr. Hayward, 
and find they belong to the class filaria. These entozoa 
have of late been very prevalent among sheep, and they have 
also been met with under the most opposite circumstances 
of feeding and management. They are, I believe, an un¬ 
described variety of the filaria , and were first seen by me about 
three years since, when investigating the unknown cause of 
death of some valuable lambs, intended for stock purposes. 
Since then I have found them in numerous instances, and in 
sheep of all ages, as also in districts as far removed as the 
eastern and western counties. 
The losses from the presence of these worms have been in 
some instances very heavy, and they will, I fear, continue so 
to be; for it is not until the system of the animal gives way 
to the continued drain upon it that their existence is sus¬ 
pected. They are found to fix themselves on the inner surface 
of the fourth , or true digestive stomach, by inserting their 
heads into the mucous membrane, and are enabled to keep 
their hold without much effort, despite the peristaltic action 
of the stomach, by being furnished immediately behind their 
heads with four barbs, whose points turn backwards, after the 
