FILARIAE.
(Thread-like Worm)
Cause.—Drinking stagnant water, or eating hay gathered from swamps or marshy land. When full grown, the worm measures from two to six inches in length; the tail is more or less curved. They are found in the lung cavity, the heart sac, and the intestinal cavity, from which they sometimes descend into the sac containing the testicles. Animals said to have a snake in the eye have been exhibited as curiosities; in all cases the simulated snake was nothing more than the Filariae.
Symptoms.—Colicky spells; poor appetite, indigestion, pot-belly, rough coat; swelling of the sheath, legs, and the lower surface of the belly.
Treatment.—Prevention is the only treatment, for when the worms once enter the digestive canal, it is impossible to remove them.