HINDRANCES AND DISEASES. 99 



f er cent of little turkeys for years, and many who suffered 

 such losses, while they realized the cause, were ignorant 

 that much could be done to prevent or cure the trouble. 

 It attacks all other poultry, also, being most prevalent in 

 July and August. The chief symptoms are a suppressed 

 cough and a peculiar gasping, from which 

 the malady is named. As many as twenty 

 or thirty of these worms, averaging five- 

 eighths of an inch in length, have been 

 found attached to the mucous membrane of 

 the trachea, which, together with the lungs, 

 was badly inflamed. This so-called forked 

 worm in reality consists of a male and fe- 

 male permanently united. Their food is 

 the blood of their host, which also gives 

 them a red appearance. The matured fe- 

 male contains several thousand eggs, which 

 emerge only after her death. It has been 

 said that the eel-like embryos never leave 

 the eggs while they are within the living 

 body of the mother, however complete the 

 development of both may be, and that only 

 by the death of the female and the destruc- 

 tion of its body are the ova placed at lib- 

 erty. Late investigations dispute this state- 

 ment. The embryo will emerge from the 

 egg if the surrounding medium offers fa- 

 vorable conditions. These are moisture Four times natural 

 and a temperature of at least 68 degrees worm is the m&ie, 



the smaller one the 



Fahrenheit. In a moist state, the eggs pre- female, 

 serve their vitality for months, or even a year, if the tem- 

 perature is kept below 59 degrees Fahrenheit, but under 

 these conditions the contents of the eggs eventually become 

 dissolved. If placed in a dry medium, like dry sand, their 

 contents dry up the more rapidly in proportion to the ele- 

 vation of the temperature. If an unimpaired egg is kept 



