140 PHEASANTS FOR COVERTS AND AVIARIES. 



These ova and embryos get taken up by the young birds 

 either off the ground or in the water; they then develop 

 into the worms in the tracheal region of the fowl. The 

 small embryo worms grow rapidly, soon become mature, 

 and the females unite permanently to the males. They are 

 often spread by one bird devouring the worms coughed up 

 by another, and they are conveyed from one area to another 

 by being carried by such wild birds as the starling and 

 magpie, which are both very largely infested with Syngamus 

 trachealis. 



The theory that an intermediate host is necessary for the 

 hatching of the ova has now been entirely disproved. Young 

 fowls and pheasants quickly contract the disease when fed 

 on contaminated soil in which the ova are present. Breeding 

 pheasants on the same ground, as most gamekeepers know, 

 constantly leads to " gapes/' and direct experiment has shown 

 that the disease may be introduced in healthy chickens by 

 feeding them with the worms or ova. The theory of Dr. 

 Walker, of Franklinville, U.S.A. (published at length in 

 Nature of August 2nd, 1888, by Lord Walsingham), that the 

 eggs were hatched in the bodies of earthworms which are 

 eaten by the young pheasants or fowls, has been satisfactorily 

 disproved by more carefully conducted experiments, as "gapes" 

 appear in fowls on land where earthworms do not exist, and 

 birds, such as the woodpecker, martin, and others, suffer from 

 this disease though they do not eat earthworms. 



With regard to the treatment of this disease, the plan 

 of giving remedies internally to remove the worms is objec- 

 tionable, as the medicine has to be absorbed, pass into the 

 blood, and act powerfully upon the body of the bird before 

 its purpose can be accomplished ; its direct application to 

 the worms is therefore preferable. This may be accom- 

 plished by stripping the vane from a small quill feather, 

 except half an inch at its extremity ; this should then be 

 dipped in a mixture of one part of oil of turpentine and 

 two of olive oil ; and the chick being securely held by an 



