50i HANDY-BOOK OF HUSBANDRY. 



" taken from the throat of a chicken, and some from the bottom 

 " of a water-butt, where rain-water had stood a long time, under 

 "a microscope, he found them identical. I have never met with 

 '' gapes where fowls had a running stream to drink at. Camphor 

 " is perhaps the best cure for gapes, and if some is constantly 

 " kept in the water they drink, they take it readily. This has 

 " been most successful. There is also another description of 

 " gapes, arising probably from internal fever ; I have found meal 

 " mixed with milk and salts a good remedy. They are sometimes 

 " caused by a hard substance at the tip of the tongue ; in this case, 

 " remove it sharply with the thumb-nail, and let it bleed freely. 

 " A gentleman mentioned this to me who had met with it in an 

 " old French writing on poultry. 



" Sometimes a fowl will droop suddenly, after being in perfect 

 " health ; if caught directly, it will be found it has eaten some- 

 " thing that has hardened in the crop ; pour plenty of warm water 

 " down the throat, and loosen the food till it is soft ; then give a 

 " tablespoonful of castor-oil, or about as much jalap as will lie on 

 " a ten-cent piece, mixed in butter ; make a pill of it and slide it 

 " into the crop ; the fowl will be well in the morning. 



" Cayenne pepper or chalk, or both mixed with meal, are con- 

 " venient and good remedies for scouring. 



" When fowls are restless, dissatisfied, and continually scratch- 

 " ing, it is often caused by lice ; these can be got rid of by sup- 

 " plying their houses or haunts with plenty of ashes, especially 

 " wood ashes, in which they may dust themselves, and the dust- 

 " bath is rendered more effectual by adding some sulphur to the 

 '' dust. It must be borne in mind, all birds must have the bath j 

 " some use water, some dust j but both from the same instinctive 

 "knowledge of its necessity. Where a shallow stream of water 

 " runs across a gravel road, it will be found full of small birds 

 " washing ; where a bank is dry, and well exposed to the sun, 

 " birds of all kinds will be found burying themselves in the dust. 



" Sometimes fowls appear cramped, they have difficulty in 

 " standing upright, and rest on their knees ; in large, young 

 " birds, especially cocks, this is merely the effect of weakness 



