510 DISEASES, PARASITES, AND ENEMIES 
places the leg enlarges to two or three times its normal diameter. 
This pest is readily communicated from fowl to fowl, hence the 
wisdom of destroying it wherever found. The treatment is to 
stand the bird in a pail of warm water, and allow the scales to 
soak up thoroughly, then carefully scrape off the crusts without 
making the legs bleed, after which wipe dry and apply carbolated 
vaseline once daily. Crude petroleum is very effective in mild 
cases. In bad cases it may be necessary to repeat the treatment, 
but ordinarily one soaking and frequent applications of vaseline 
will soon effect a cure. The treatment should be started on the 
first sign of trouble. 
Depluming Mites.—These are minute insects which live on the 
fowl, taking up their abode at the base of the quills, which they 
consume or damage so that the feathers subsequently fall out. 
If the condition persists, the feathers around the neck and head 
may all drop out. Treatment consists in rubbing crude petroleum 
or carbolated vaseline frequently into the parts of the skin infested. 
Mosquitoes, where common, often do considerable damage to 
poultry. In South Jersey, near the coast, the writer has noted 
extensive damage resulting from mosquitoes biting the combs and 
faces of fowls, especially during damp weather. The punctures, 
which are made by the mouth of the insect, seem to offer exception- 
ally favorable places for the development of chicken pox, the 
infection easily getting a foothold and spreading in all directions. 
Where mosquitoes are so thick as to do damage as outlined, a 
preventive measure to eliminate the danger from chicken pox 
is to saturate the air in the roosting quarters with a two or three 
per cent solution of xenoleum at night when the birds are on the 
perches. This carbolated preparation acts as a disinfectant. 
Internal Parasites.—There are two groups of internal parasites 
which embrace nearly all the types of economic importance,— 
namely, (1) parasites which find their way into the trachea of the 
bird and (2) intestinal parasites. 
The first group is represented by the gapeworm (Fig. 214), 
found only in little chicks, which when affected will stand around 
with drooping wings, gasping for breath. Gapeworms are little, 
reddish worms which fasten themselves on the wall of the trachea 
and suck blood from its mucous lining, causing inflammation. 
They are about half an inch in length, and may become so numerous 
as almost to stop the breathing. The disease is especially prevalent 
in the spring, the infection being transmitted in the soil from one 
