THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



149 



GAPES IN POWI,S. 



{Sclerostoma [Strongylus] eyngamui.) 

 BV N. H. PAAKEN, V. 8. 



CFig U9 ]• Dr. Wieseiithiil, Professor of 



Anatomy at Baltimore, U. S., 

 writing in 1797, says: 



" There is a disease prevalent 

 among- the gallinaeeons poultry 

 in this country called the Gajies, 

 which destroys eight-lcnths of 

 our fowls in many parts, and is 

 most prevalent among voung 

 turkeys and chickens bred upon 

 established farms. Chicks and 

 l>oiilts, in a few days after they 

 are hatched, are frequently 

 found to open wide their mouths 

 and gasp for breath, at the same 

 time sneezing, and attempting 

 to swallow. At first the affec- 

 tion is slight, but gradually be- 

 comes more and more oppres- 

 sive, and ultimately destroys. 

 Very few recover; they lan- 

 guish, grow dispirited, droop, 

 and die. It is generally known 

 these symptoms are occasioned 

 by worms in the trachea. I have 

 seen the whole windpipe com- 

 pletely tilled with these worms, j 

 and have been astonished at the 

 fowl's being capable of respira- 

 tion under such circumstances." 

 What Dr. Wiesenthal wrote 

 Color— Bi<iuii-:cd.' last century apjilies well to 

 Gapes as prevailing in diflerent parts of this 

 country at the present time. Pheasants and 

 partridges are also liable to the disease. Dr. 

 Spencer Cobbold says: 



" This parasite has been found and recorded 

 as occurring in the trachea of the following birds, 

 namely, the turkey, domestic cock, pheasant, 

 partridge, common duck, lapwing, black stork, 

 magpie, hooded crow, green woodpecker, star- 

 ling, and swift. I do not doubt that this list 

 might be very much extended if our British 

 ornilhologists would favor us with their expe- 

 rience in the matter. Hitherto I have been sur- 

 prised to tind how few of those to whom I have 

 mentioned the subject appear to be acquainted 

 either with the nature of the [larasite, or with 

 the various methods to be adopted in curing the 

 disease to which its presence in the windpipe 

 gives rise." 



Ill the calf, the parasites are found in large 

 numbers in the trachea, or partially developed 

 in the substance of the lungs. It is the Slronyy- 

 liis micrurus which is found in tlie calf, and 

 occasionallv iu the liorsc and ass. In lambs 



• We are intlel)tod. I'nr tliis illu^tnitinii, to Prof. .los. Leiily, 

 of PliiljuU'lpliia, who has liiid ttu' kiinlm*ss to liiive it copifil, 

 after tiifbold, from Arvliir . f Nfiiuriie.iclnchte, 183li, platu 

 III. wliere it is callutl Si/iujamu^ trackealis. The ligiire is 

 hifhly iuaf;DilIed, and the large portion represents the female, 

 and the smaller arm the attached male — Kd. 



and kids, the parasite is termed Strongylus flla- 

 ria; and in the pig, Strongylus contortus. In 

 Gapes, the jiarasite is Sderostoma (Siroiir/ylus) 

 synyamus occupying the trachea and bronchial 

 tulies of fowls. 



"We tiud, on examining the lungs of sheep at 

 the slaughter-lioHse, that almost all, in the first 

 year of their lives, have indications of deposits 

 in the lungs — at one time supposed to be tuber- 

 cular, but whicli we now know is due to para- 

 sitic productions. 



StrongyU are not easily killed. Ercolani has 

 found them living thirty days after exposure to 

 air. They were dried up, but being moistened 

 witli water, moved and gave other signs of life. 



The freed eggs, at the time of their maturity, 

 contain ciliated embryo capable of active pro- 

 gression. The prolonged action of moisture' 

 from without, aided by vigorous moveineuts of 

 the perfected embryo within, serves to loosen 

 the end of the egg-shell, by the openingof which 

 the animal is set free. 



Dr. Spencer Cobbold has recommended the 

 following course to be adopted in this disease 

 of birds: 



"First. When the worm has taken up its 

 abode in the trachea of fowls and other domestic 

 birds, the simplest plan consists, as Dr. Wiesen- 

 thal long ago pointed out, in striiiping a feather 

 from the tube to near the narrow end of the 

 shaft, leaving only a few uniiijui^d webs at the 

 tip. The bird being secured, the web extremity 

 of the feather is introduced into the windpipe. 

 It is then twisted round a few times and with- 

 drawn, when it will usually happen that 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, superinten- 

 dent of the Zoological Society's Gardens, em- 

 ploys for tliis purpose salt, or a weak infusion 

 of tobacco; and he informs us that the simple 

 application of turpentine to the throat externally 

 is sufficient to kill the worms. To this plan, 

 however, there is the objection that, unless much 

 care be taken, the bird itself may be injuriously 

 affected by tlie drugs employed. 



"Thirdly. The mode of treatment recom- 

 mended by Mr. Montagu api)rars worthy of 

 mention, as it proved successful in his hands, 

 although the infested birds were old partridges. 

 One of his birds had died from siitfocation ; 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 nianageric afforded, 

 recovered the others in a very short time.' 



"Fourthly. The plan I have here adopted, by 

 way of experimeut, of opening the trachea and 

 removiug the worms at once. This method is 



