Dr. Baird on Entozoa, or Intestinal Worms. 147 



of the disease." When the trachea is opened,, the bronchial 

 passages are found choked up with worms, and in general the 

 mucous membrane of the trachea and bronchi presents traces of 

 vivid inflammation. Few or none attacked ever recover • and 

 the only way to prevent the fatality amongst cattle which show 

 the disease is to remove them from the pastures in which they 

 are feeding at the time, and supply them with dry hay. The 

 Entozoon which produces all this mischief is the Strongylus mi- 

 crurus, the Strongylus vitulorum of Rudolphi. 



Another species of worm, belonging to the same order as the 

 last, the Nematoidea, infests the trachea of our domestic poultry, 

 producing the disease called the "gapes." For the first account of 

 this worm we are indebted to Dr. Wiesenthal of Baltimore, and 

 afterwards to Colonel Montagu, who has published a good account 

 of it in the 'Wernerian Transactions/ vol. i. p. 194. Young- 

 poultry are the chief subjects of this affection, which shows itself 

 by the little creatures opening their mouths, and extending their 

 necks as if gasping for breath, sneezing, and frequently attempt- 

 ing to swallow. They languish, grow dispirited, droop, and die. 

 Very few recover if not attended to. Montagu, upon opening the 

 windpipes of several of those that died, found the trachea highly 

 inflamed, and no less than twenty worms firmly adhering to its 

 surface, so completely choking up the passage that the chick had 

 evidently died of suffocation. Young turkeys, pheasants, and 

 even partridges, suffer from the same malady*. 



An exceedingly fatal disease is produced in sheep by an Ento- 

 zoon, called the Ccmurus cerebralis, which has its abode encysted 

 in the brain. It is very prevalent and fatal in some seasons, in cold 

 and backward springs, and when the sheep are feeding in wet 

 and moorish districts. It is particularly frequent and fatal in many 

 parts of France, and it is calculated, Mr. Youatt says, that at least 

 900,000 sheep annually die in that country of this disease. In 

 this country it is known by the name of the " sturdy," and in 

 England it is sometimes called the "gig," the "giggles," and the 

 " turnsick." In France it is known by the name of " tournis." 

 The malady appears during the first year of the animal's life, 

 generally when it is about or under six months old. The sym- 

 ptoms and progress of this disease are so well described by 

 Mr. Youatt in the c Veterinarian ' for 1834, vol. vii. pp. 519- 

 531, that I will transcribe the whole passage : — " The sheep 

 cease to gambol with their companions; they are dull; they 



* Montagu mentions that he cured this disease amongst his own poultry 

 by mixing their food (barley or oatmeal) with urine instead of water, and 

 feeding the chicks with it three or four times a day. Under this treatment, 

 lie says, out of a large brood, not one suffering from the disease died. All 

 recovered. The worm is the Syngamus trachealis. 



