Oct. 1, 1924 
Critical Tests of Miscellaneous Anthelmintics 
325 
on the walls of the digestive tract as a 
result of the flow of current to the 
lumen, thereby enabling the carbon 
tetrachloride to reach and destroy 
them. This matter deserves further 
study, because some of these small tri- 
chostrongvles, such as species of Nema- 
todirus, Cooperia, and Trichostrongy- 
lus, are known to be pathogenic and are 
not as yet known to be amenable to 
treatment by any drug other than car¬ 
bon tetrachloride. 
Hall and Shillinger found that carbon 
tetrachloride in doses of 12 to 48 cc. 
removed from 30 to 90 per cent of the 
whipworms present. In the experi¬ 
ments reported in the present paper, 10 
cc. of carbon tetrachloride failed to 
remove the whipworms present. 
Hall and Shillinger did not find car¬ 
bon tetrachloride of value in removing 
tapeworms from sheep, the drug re¬ 
moving one worm and leaving large 
numbers. Its much greater value in 
the experiments reported in the present 
paper may be correlated with the use of 
magnesium sulphate. In personal con¬ 
versation the writers have been told 
that magnesium sulphate alone will 
remove some tapeworms from sheep, 
although no experimental evidence 
along this line is available. 
In the experiments reported here, 
carbon tetrachloride in doses of 10 cc. 
simultaneously administered with 4 
ounces of magnesium sulphate dissolved 
in 250 cc. of water, proved 100 per cent 
effective against stomach worms, nodu¬ 
lar worms, and small trichostrongyles. 
This finding confirms previous work of 
the writers on stomach worms, and 
indicates an even higher efficacy than 
previously reported for the drug against 
nodular worms and small trichostron¬ 
gyles. The increased efficacy is ap¬ 
parently correlated with the simulta¬ 
neous administration of magnesium 
sulphate. At present it can not be 
said just how safe carbon tetrachloride 
is for ruminants. 
Carbon tetrachloride was 33 per cent 
effective against tapeworms, an in¬ 
crease over the very low efficacy previ¬ 
ously reported by the writers against 
these worms; and this increase also 
may be correlated with the use of 
magnesium sulphate. It failed en¬ 
tirely against whipworms, only one of 
these being present. Such a result 
might be expected in many cases in 
spite of excellent results in individual 
cases, because the drug does not always 
enter into the cecum where these worms 
are. 
As regards the toxicity of carbon 
tetrachloride for sheep, Hall and Shil¬ 
linger reported that a lamb weighing 15 
kg. (33 pounds) was down and ap¬ 
parently dying on the fourth day after 
receiving 30 cc. of carbon tetrachloride 
in 2 ounces of castor oil. This is a 
large dose for so small an animal,, 
although dogs would tolerate much 
larger doses. As the authors have 
noted elsewhere, ruminants are not so 
tolerant of many volatile anthelmintics 
as are carnivores. 
No bad effects were noted for the 10 
cc. dose reported in the present paper, 
but on post-mortem examination the 
kidneys of No. 7c were found to present 
a pathological appearance., and on 
microscopic examination by Dr. Leigh 
Giltner of the Pathological Division of 
this bureau they showed a subacute 
parenchymatous nephritis with general 
degeneration of the epithelium. This 
finding suggests that some of the carbon 
tetrachloride may have been absorbed 
in spite of the presence of the mag¬ 
nesium sulphate. This may not be a 
serious matter, as the studies of Meyer 
and Pessoa (35; 36), Smillie and Pessoa 
(40), Docherty and Nicholls (8), and 
Lamson and McLean (30), supported 
by many clinical observations in human 
and veterinary medicine, indicate that 
lesions due to carbon tetrachloride of 
the kidneys and liver usually clear up 
and leave these organs in practically 
their original condition in a compara¬ 
tively short time. The exceptions to 
this rule apparently occur in those cases 
where these organs are already dam¬ 
aged and unable to tolerate further 
insult. 
LARGE-SCALE TESTS OF REPEATED 
DOSES OF CARBON TETRACHLO¬ 
RIDE FOR WORMS IN SHEEP 
To obtain further information ori 
the possibility of using carbon tetra¬ 
chloride as a control measure for 
worms in sheep, a flock of 23 sheep 
was put on monthly treatments. At 
the first dosing in October, 1923, 17 
of these sheep were given 5 cc. of carbon 
tetrachloride in capsule, followed im¬ 
mediately by 2 oz. of a saturated solution 
of magnesium sulphate as a drench. 
Two sheep died because the solution of 
magnesium sulphate entered their lungs 
and toxic action apparently followed 
its absorption by them. The amount 
of solution appears to have been too 
small to cause death by asphyxiation; 
much larger amounts of water or 
normal saline may be introduced into 
the lungs of animals, as a rule, without 
bad effects. Magnesium sulphate is 
known to be toxic when administered 
intravenously or even in saturated 
