'"X( 



DISEASES OF- POULTRY. 1029 



Mix a tablespoonful of the foregoing in the feed of ten hens. 

 The following is a good tonic egg-powder : — 



Ground fenugreek 6 oz. 



Ground sulphite of soda 8 oz. 



Ground anise seed , 2oz. 



Ground bone , 16. oz. 



Ground bloodroot ■.., 2 oz. 



Cream tartar ' .4 oz. 



Mix tablespoonful of above, in the feed of ten hens. 



Worms in Ducks. — We present herewith 

 (Fig. 1380) a representation of a worm which 

 infests the intestines of the duck, and proves 

 frequently very fatal to this fowl. It is of a red 

 color, and the body varies greatly, in shape, as 

 its name indicates. 



. Canonizing Fowls.— The following paper on 

 caponizing fowls was read by L. E. Simpkins, 

 arid the operation therein described performed, 

 before the members of the New York State. 

 Academy of Comparative Surgery, of which Dr. TrS^^JtMI 

 E. A. Meyer has been the President for the past 

 two years :— " , 



"Capons have ever been esteemed among the 

 greatest delicacies of the table, and are made Fm. 1380.-Echinorryn- 

 & , .. -, ,. chus Polymorphic (in the 



by the extirpation of the reproductive organs / »' 0^ 



of the male fowl. If a cock when young is emas- 1 ■ 



culated, a Remarkable change takes place in him. His natural fierce- 

 ness is calmed ; he becomes placid and peaceful ; his pugnacity has 

 djeserted him ; he no longer seeks the company of the hens ; he loses 

 his previously shrill voice ; he grows to a far larger size than he 

 would otherwise have obtained. Having nothing to interfere with the 

 main business of his life, — to eat, drink, sleep, and get fat as speedily 

 as possible, — his flesh is peculiarly white, firm, and succulent, and 

 even the fat is perfectly destitute of rankness. 



" Caponizing has been practiced from the earliest antiquity in 

 Greece, India, and China, for the purpose of improving the flesh of 

 birds for the table, in tenderness, juiciness, and flavof. It is exten- 

 sively performed in the great poultry districts of England, but in 

 this country it is by no means so generally practiced as would natu- 

 rally be expected; 



/'The cockerel intended for capons should be of the largest 

 breeds.! They may be operated upon any time after they are a 

 month old. 



