GAPES. 141 



assistant, the tongue may be drawn forward by catching 

 the barbs at its base in a lock of cottonwool, and then 

 pulling it forward so as to expose the small opening of the 

 windpipe, down which the feather is to be passed sufficiently 

 far to come into contact with the worms, and then turned 

 round between the thumb and finger. 



The application at once kills the parasites, and invariably 

 excites a fit of coughing, during which they are expelled : 

 this mode of treatment requires some manual dexterity, and 

 at times the irritation proves fatal ; olive oil alone is some- 

 times employed. 



Removing the worms by a feather is troublesome, and 

 the operation is not always successful. Fumigation with 

 tobacco smoke is rarely of much avail. The administration 

 of turpentine or camphor is attended with danger to the 

 chickens, and opening the windpipe and extracting the 

 worms whilst the bird is under the influence of chloroform 

 requires surgical skill. 



Knowing the active influence of carbolic acid on the 

 lower forms of animal life, I determined to try the effect of 

 the inhalation of its vapour in the cases of " gapes " that came 

 under my notice. I have operated several times on chickens 

 and turkeys that were suffering severely from "gapes," 

 being almost choked by the worms. Each bird was placed 

 in a small deal box, the open top being covered with a cloth. 

 I then took a carbolic acid fumigator, consisting of a small 

 metal saucer, heated by a spirit lamp. On the saucer I 

 placed about a dozen drops of carbolic acid, lit the lamp, 

 and put the apparatus in the interior of the box. Dense 

 white fumes soon filled the box, and, being of necessity 

 respired by the bird, came at once into contact with the 

 worms. The operation was continued in every case until 

 the birds were in some danger of suffocation. They soon, 

 however, recovered on exposure to the air, and on the day 

 following the treatment were running about perfectly free 

 from any symptom of disease. 



