REMEDIES AGAINST FEATHER-LICE. 117 



will be given and figured, since practical people, for whom 

 the report is written, do not greatly care whether they kill 

 with Persian insect-powder, a Goniocotes^ Goiiiodes, or Meno- 

 jpon, providing that the insect dies a sudden death. 



The remedies we can apply against feather-lice infesting 

 birds are not numerous, nor can they be applied as in treat- 

 ing hairy animals. An ounce of prevention in this case is 

 worth more than a pound of cure. All birds, be they fowls 

 or caged pets, useful or ornamental, should have access 

 to a dust-pan filled with sifted coal-ashes. Whoever has 

 watched birds enjoying a bath of this kind knows how use- 

 ful it must be, and how beneficial and soothing, otherwise 

 they would not repeat it as often as they do. If birds are 

 infested with lice they seem to require such a dusting, which 

 is evidently nature's remedy against all vermin of this 

 character, and by means of which they dislodge them. The 

 frequent use of Persian or Dalmatian insect-powder {Pyre- 

 tJirum) is the very best remedy we possess for the purpose of 

 killing these parasites. In buying this powder, we should 

 make certain that it is fresh, as old powder becomes almost 

 worthless. The active principle of Pyrethrum is an essential 

 or etherial oil, which is volatile; if the powder is, therefore, 

 not kept in a tight vessel nothing remains "but the dry sub- 

 stance, the spirit is gone." This powder, or the better one 

 produced in California and sold under the name of Buhach, 

 should be dusted between the feathers of the infested fowls. 

 Their nests should also be treated in the same way. 



Thorough fumigation of the hen-house with sulphur dur- 

 ing the absence of the chickens is also an excellent rule, 

 though the very great majority of biting-lice are away with the 

 birds and not in the roosts. But the fumes of sulphitr de- 

 stroy at the same time also numerous other insects that in- 

 vade the hen-houses, as well as vegetable parasites. For 

 this very reason the inside of the hen-house should be white- 

 washed from time to time, and a thorough spraying with 

 kerosene should not be omitted. Sand-baths, in which the 

 sand is slightly moistened with kerosene oil, has also many 

 advantages. If hen-houses were built in such a manner that 



