78 POULTRY LREEDING 
the Dakotas and Missouri and in this way has found the 
disease in isolated areas in nearly all the mid-west states, 
The symptoms vary and it is not always easy to diagnose, 
especially as the dark discoloration of the head is not 
always present. Indeed we have reason to believe that 
in the West it rarely appears, except when old birds are 
attacked, and then not always, nor is it always a symptom 
of blackhead. In most cases the victims die so quickly 
after the disease becomes noticeable that no change is 
observable in the color of the head. Diarrhoea is a reli- 
able symptom of the disease, and in the older of the in- 
fected young turkeys droppings stained with yellow is 
almost characteristic of its attacks. ‘There is, however, 
no other sure means of diagnosis than the presence of 
large sores made in the cecal (blind gut) walls and in the 
substance of the liver, and in finding the parasites.” As 
the average turkey breeder is not equipped for finding 
parasites he must confine himself to an examination of 
the liver of the birds that die. If on the liver are found 
sores circular or rather annular in character, resembling 
a ringworm on a human being, the evidence that black- 
head is present may be considered conclusive. 
As no remedy which produces favorable results has 
been discovered the turkey breeder must resort to means 
for preventing it from appearing in his flocks, and it has 
not yet been demonstrated that any such measures are 
more than partially effective. Dr. Curtice concluded that 
the germs of the disease were very frequently found in 
common fowls (chickens), although only two or three 
cases had ever appeared among the fowls kept at the 
Rhode Island station, they seeming to be immune from 
the effects of the parasites. By removing the eges from 
under the hens three or four days before hatching, wip- 
