82 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[June, 



our common Locusts ("Grasshoppers") arid 

 especiallj' the generce Acrydinm, CaloxjUrtus 

 and (Edqjoda, infested by certain species of 

 Filaria,'^hich are nearly allied totheGordians, 

 or "Hair-worms." The common notion in re- 

 gard to Hair-worms is, that they are horse- 

 hairs, which have become animated by long 

 immersion in water, under the influence of a 

 hot sun. 1 believe, however, that no one has 

 yet succeeded in animating a horsehair, under 

 his own observation — at least / have not, al- 

 though I tried. 



On one occasion I drew a protruding hair- 

 worm, alx)ut four inches long, from the body 

 of a specimen ol HydropMlus irianyedaris, 

 one of our largest species of water-beetles. 

 They have also been found in the bodies of 

 other beetles, both terrestial and aquatic. In 

 the collection of the Linnasan Society are quite' 

 a number of specimens— black, brown, yellow 

 and white— whicli have been found, either in 

 poo^-of water, on the moist earth, iji the 

 solid heads of cabbages, and in the seed cavi- 

 ties of apples. Just how they get mto such 

 places it would be difficult to explain, but 

 from the fact that the same animals have 

 )jeen found lioth in and oirf of other animals, 

 fruits, and vegetables, evinces that certain 

 stages of their development must take place 

 within some animal or vegetable, and that 

 subsequently they must pass out of them and 

 lay the foundation for a new generation. In 

 the Linnsean collection is a large female Oor- 

 (^itis-^or supposed to be such — that is tangled 

 up with a string of eggs and partly developed 

 young. These are so very minute that they 

 could easily be swallowed by animals with 

 tlitiir food or druik— even by Beetles and 

 Oi lasshoppers. 



But this chapter on Entozoal development 

 does not close with these. Trichiuized pork, 

 and other animal tissues, exhibit other forms 

 of the same general class ; and recently a 

 paragraph has been going the rounds of the 

 public press, that Pr. Rowe of Cincinnati has 

 demonstrated that a fish, brought to him 

 from the market of that city, was infested by 

 genuine Trichina. His attention had been 

 directed to worms embedded in the backbone 

 on cleaning the fish, l)ut on further investiga- 

 tion he found that the fish was trichinized in 

 all its tissues. This case {if true) is supposed 

 to be -the first instance of Irivhince being 

 foiuid in fish, and very much enhances the 

 interest and importance of the subject. Tlie 

 various stomach and intestinal worms, both 

 of human beings and various animals, telong 

 to tiie same category. It is said that, the vo- 

 racity of the shark is mainly due to a mam- 

 moth species of Entozoa wliich infests its 

 stomach, and is incessantly clamoring for 

 "more,'*— perhaps a Tape-xoorm. 



In an ol^ illustrated work entitled "The 

 JSTaturalisfs Miscellany," published in the city 

 of London without date, but dedicated to her 

 Majesty Queen Charlotte (wife of George III. 

 and mother of George IV.) I find recorded 

 nearly as much about the history and develop- 

 ment of "Hair-worms" as is known now; in- 

 cluding the popular notion that it was an ani- 

 mated horsehair, and also a refutation of the 

 notion. It was then known that this entozoon 

 was found in tiie bodies of beetles and other 

 insects, but no attempt was uiiide to classify 

 it, or ally it with other animals of a simitar 



form and habit. A notion then also prevailed 

 Uiat the hair-worm could bite, and that its 

 bite produced a disease called' "Whitlow" — 

 an inflammatory disease of the fingers or toes. 

 I one time immagined that I felt a slight 

 stinging sensation whilst handling an active 

 hair-worm, but it was only momentary, and no 

 inflammation followed. I felt the same sensa- 

 tion, with the same results, in handling a 

 specimen of Pehcinus polycerator, a stingless 

 species of IlYilENOrXERA. 



Although the foregoing may be interesting 

 as a matter of information or speculation, it 

 does not contain much that is of practical inter- 

 est to the galliuiculturist, as a means of preven- 

 tion or cure of " Gapes " in his fowls ; never- 

 theless, if he really comprehends " who and 

 what" the gapes actually are— the company 

 they belong to, the mode of their propagation 

 and development— he will be in a better con- 

 dition to "fight them" intelligently than he 

 would be if he were entirely ignorant, illiterate 

 or superstitious on the' subject. If lie k»ows 

 that after he has expelled them from his 

 fowls, and then lets them "lie loose " about 

 his premises it might be as fata! to his future 

 broods as it would be to let the fangs of 

 Rattlesnakes lie loose around the local habi- 

 tats of his children. They are like the ghost 

 otBanquo, they "will not down," unless he 

 boils them, stews them, or burns^ them. They 

 are like the "Beer-plant" of Texas, a species 

 of aquatic fungus, or algea, the smallest atom 

 of which, when placed in water, will increase 

 to pints, from pints to quarts, from quarts to 

 gallons, and from gallons to barrels, if so 

 much of their native element is allowed them. 



Experience wi?Z— or at least ought to— 

 demonstrate to the intelligent galliniculturist, 

 some one remedy at least, in which he has 

 more confidence tlian he has in any other, for 

 the destruction., suppression or prevention of 

 Stronyyli in his fowls, and as often as occa-. 

 sion requires, will resort to tlrat remedy what- 

 ever it may be. Nevertlieless, for the benefit 

 of those who are not so fortunately situated, 

 allow me to quote the quotations of a cotem- 

 porary in the following : "Dr. Spencer Cob- 

 bold has recommended the following course 

 to be adopted in this disease of birds ; 



First. " When the worm has taken uji its 

 abode in the trachea of fowls and other do- 

 mestic birds, the simplest plan consists, as 

 Dr. Weieenthal long ago pointed out, in 

 stripping a feather from the tube to near the 

 narrow end of the ^haft, leaving only a few 

 uninjured webs at the tip. Tlie bird being 

 secured, the web extremity of the feather is 

 introduced into the windpipe. It is then 

 twisted round a few times and withdrawn, 

 when it will usually happen tliat several of 

 the worms are found attached. In some in- 

 stances this plan entirely succeeds. But it- is 

 not altogether satisfactory, as it occasionally 

 fails to dislodge all the occupants." 



Secondly. "The above method is rendered 

 more effectual when the feather is previously 

 steeped in some medicated solution which will 

 destroy the worms. Mr. Bartlett, Superin- 

 tendent of the Zoological Society's Gardens, 

 employed for this purpose salt, or a weak in- 

 fusion of tobacco : and he informs us that the 

 simple application of turpentine to the throat 

 externally is suflicient to kill the worms. To 

 this plan, however, there is the objection that, 



unless much care be taken, the bird itself may 

 bb injuriously allected by the drugs employed. " 

 ■ Thirdly. "The mode of treatment recom- 

 mended by Mr. Mon'iagu appears worthy of- 

 mention, as it proved successful in his hands, 

 although the infested birds were old par- 

 tridges. Ode of Ins birds had died of sufflca- 

 tion, but he tells us that change of food and 

 change of place, together with the infusion 

 of rue and garlic instead of plain water to 

 drink, and chiefly hempseed, independently 

 of green vegetables which the grass-plot of 

 the managerie afforded, recovered the others 

 in a very short time." 



Fourthly. "The plan I have here adopted, 

 by way of experiment, of opening the trachea 

 and removing the worms at once. This 

 method is evidently only necessary when the 

 disease has advanced so far that immediate 

 suflbcation becomes inevitable ; or it may be 

 resorted to when other methods have failed. 

 In the most far-gone cases instant relief will 

 follow this operation, since the trachea may 

 with certainty be cleared of all obstructions." 



tij'thly. "The most essential thing to be 

 observed, in view of putting a check upon the 

 future prevalence of the disease, is the total 

 destruction of the parcisites after their removal; 

 a precaution, however, which cannot be 

 adopted if Mr.'Montagu's mode of treatment 

 is followed. If the worm be merely killed 

 and thrown away (say upon the ground), it is 

 scarcely ■ likely that the matured eggs will 

 have sustained any injury. Decomposition 

 havingset in the young embryos will sooner or 

 later escape from their shells, migiate in the 

 soil or elsewhere, and ultimately find their 

 way into the air-passages of certain birds in 

 the same manner as their parents did before 

 them." 



Sixthh/. We here adduce Prof. Riley's 

 mode of treatment, from page 150, second 

 volume of the American Entomologist. "Dis- 

 solve one grain of pure crystalline carbolic 

 acid in ten drops of alcohol, and add half a 

 drachm of vinegar. Strip a small quill- 

 feather till within half an inch of the narrow 

 end of the shaft. Secure the feathered 

 patient, moisten the feather in the solution 

 and introduce it into the windpipe, turning 

 it round once or twice, and then remove it. 

 It will dislodge the worms and bring back 

 many adhering to the slime upon it. Great 

 dexterity is required, and some, little knowl- 

 edge of the anatomy of the parts ; a slow, 

 unskillful operator may kill the already half 

 suffocated bird instead of curing it." 



This much by way of what may be termed 

 surgical operations ; what follows may be 

 classed among precautions and preventions. 

 In this category Prof. Riley continues : "Next 

 I put the bird in a coop, with some sliavings 

 dipped in a solution of carbolic acid (half an 

 ounce of the crystalline acid, well mixed with 

 one quart of water). Food and water is 

 given ui small tin boxes placed convenient to 

 the bird. Administer flour of sulphur, with 

 a little ginger, in poultaceous food, composed 

 of barleyraeal and coarse cornmeal. In the 

 drinking water placed before the birds should 

 be mixed a few drops of the last mentioned , 

 solution. The mouth and beak should be 

 washed morning and evening with some of 

 the solution. The shavings should be 

 removed ev€ry morning, or be sprinkled 



