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that the gapes can be produced by feeding the earthworms containing 

 them to chicks (see the various experiments herein detailed). But, 

 some say it is only an accidental host of the earthworm, taken 

 in with the particles of earth, leaves, etc., while boring through 

 the soil, and that the embryos may even be used as food by the 

 earthworm. I have not the slightest faith in its being an acci- 

 dental host of the earthworm, temporarily taken in with leaves, 

 grass, etc., or used as food. If this was the case, why should we 

 find it, as I have often done, in many earthworms in an infested 

 locality, in midwinter, down deep in the ground, in the same posi- 

 tion as in summer, in the intestine of the earthworm? Why did 

 it not pass off with leaves and other matter used as food, instead 

 of remaining throughout the year? I have found twenty in a 

 single earthworm, and often five to ten. If the embryo was taken 

 in as an accidental host, I see no reason why we should not at 

 times find some of the eggs of Syngamus in the earthworm, but as 

 before stated, we have never found one. In all our study of the life 

 history of the gape worm,we have never found any way in nature ^with- 

 out the intervention of man, through which they obtained access to birds, 

 except the earthworm. There is no food more natural for fowls 

 than these. Chicks, two days old, eat them greedily. No embryos 

 of Syngamus have ever been discovered, on repeated examinations, 

 in any other forms of animal life about the coops of chicks having the 

 gapes, except earthworms. These examinations were made with 

 the microscope, and also by feeding experiments with chicks. No 

 embryos like those of Syngamus, were found in earthworms which 

 did not produce the gapes by feeding them to chicks. / have made 

 inquiries in various parts of our country, where no earthworms are 

 found, as to the existence of gapes, and have invariably received the 

 reply that their fozvls do not have the disease. The robin and other 

 worm-eating birds which act as hosts for Syngamus, without 

 question disseminate the disease from one farm or part of the 

 country to another. When you remove your chicks to new 

 ground where there has never been any gapes, the earthworms 

 will not contain the embryos, and your chicks will be free from 

 the disease. This has been demonstrated many times in this 

 vicinity. Also, the fact that using a strong solution of salt on the 

 ground, and thus killing the infested earthworms about coops 

 where chicks have previously had the disease, would entirely pre- 

 vent any outbreak the following year. It is a matter of common 

 observation, that the gapes is more prevalent during wet seasons, 



