The Liver Fluke inhabits the bile-ducts of numerous herbivorous mammals (sheep, ox, goat, horse, ass, rabbit,[268] guinea-pig, squirrel, beaver, deer, roe, antelope, camel, kangaroo, and others), and is distributed over the whole of Europe, though not to an equal extent. It is further known in North Africa, in North and South America, as well as in Australia; it is also found in Asia, as it has been reported from Japan, China, and Tonkin (Gaide, two cases in man). In some districts of Germany it is very frequent, and the slaughter-house statistics of various places show that it is of daily occurrence. _Fasciola magna_ occurs in herbivora in America. [268] [There does not seem to be any direct evidence of either rabbits or hares normally being invaded by this fluke.--F. V. T.] The liver fluke, however, is by no means a harmless parasite, for it produces in domestic animals, more especially in sheep, a disease of the liver that appears epidemically in certain years and districts, and commits great ravages amongst the flocks. [The following records show the enormous loss caused in sheep by this parasite. In 1812, in the Midi, principally in the Departments of the Rhône, Herault, and Gard, the disease was rampant; 300,000 sheep perished in the Arles territory, and 90,000 in the Arrondissements of Nîmes and Montpellier. In 1829 and 1830, in the Department of the Meuse and near localities, not only sheep but oxen died in enormous numbers; for instance, in the Arrondissement of Verdun out of 50,000 sheep 20,000 died, and out of 20,000 cattle 2,200 died. In England, in 1830, 2,000,000 sheep were carried off; whilst in 1862 60 per cent. of the sheep died in Ireland; and in 1879 over 300,000 were lost in England; whilst as late as 1891 one owner in the same country lost over 10,000 sheep (_Live Stock Journal_, October 30, 1891).--F. V. T.] [Illustration: FIG. 140.--_Fasciola hepatica._ _M._, mouth; _Ut._, uterine rosette; _Tr.c._, transverse vitelline ducts uniting to form a vitelline receptacle in the mid-line; _E.d._, longitudinal vitelline ducts; _V.s._, vitellaria. The clear space in the centre represents the position of the ramifying testes and part of the gut. Natural size. (Mull. fluid, alcohol, creosote, Canada balsam.)] [Illustration: FIG. 141.--_Fasciola hepatica_, L. _I._, intestine; _Vs._, vitellaria; _Ov._, ovary; _O._, oral aperture; _Ut._, uterus; _S._, ventral sucker; _T._, testes. In front of the testes are seen the transverse vitelline ducts uniting to form the pyriform vitelline receptacle. Immediately in front of this the spherical shell gland. The two vasa efferentia can also be seen running up in the mid-line. The branches of the gut are only shown in the cephalic cone. (After Claus.)]