106 PRACTICAL PHEASANT REARING. 



of " prevention better than cure," and the use of the 

 compound which, working unobtrusively on the ground 

 underneath the coops at night, neither disturbs nor 

 hurts the young birds, and apparently renders them 

 " immune " to the disease. 



There may be a cure for really wholesale developed 

 gapes. All I can say is, that, greatly to my regret, it 

 is as yet unknown to me, and therefore I am unable 

 to impart the secret to the readers of the Field. 

 I can only express a hope that some day the 

 " Simon Pure " may be sent to me for experi- 

 mental purposes. Meanwhile, though I have given to 

 my readers the best advice that I can put together, 

 for the avoidance of and cure for this most insidious 

 and destructive curse to young pheasants, I feel, with 

 Charles Sprague in his " Curiosity," that I have held 

 But a warped mirror to a gaping age. 



The various mechanical means and treatment of the 

 gapes in pheasants by the use of turpentine, &c., are 

 so clearly and excellently described by Mr Tegetmeier 

 in his book, at page 8 1 and those following, that I feel 

 it would be wasting valuable space to refer to them 

 further, otherwise than to suggest to those interested 

 that the price of the book will soon come back to the 

 investor. 



CRAMP AND OTHER AILMENTS. 

 As before pointed out, the causes of most of the 

 ailments of young pheasants are either wet, unsuit- 



