372 THE VETERINARY DOCTOR. 
Even more deleterious than the effuvia from the droppings are the 
organic exhalations from the lungs and skin which adhere to the walls, 
nests, perches, and other exposed surfaces. Whitewash should be fre- 
quently spread upon such surfaces and the nests be often furnished with 
new bedding. Diluted carbolic acid, an ounce to a gallon of water, is an 
excellent purifier. It should be sprinkled everywhere in the apartments, 
and may be left to evaporate from cloths. It is often allowed to stand in 
open vessels, but caution should be taken to keep it away from the flock, 
since it is an active poison. Such danger may be avoided by hanging up 
by the neck a bottle containing it, with the cork removed. 
fumigation is a2 superior protection against disease, and is especially 
valuable for the removal of lice. It may be applied in various ways. The 
fowls being removed, place in the house a vessel containing sulphur, put a 
red-hot iron in it, and closely shut all openings fur some hours. Rosin 
may be advantageously added to the sulphur. Gas-tar, or that made from 
pine or coal, is a reasonably good substitute for the sulphur; though shav- 
ings wet with carbolic acid and burned in a similar way will be better. 
feemoval of Lice and Mites.—When lice or red mites are present— 
the rapacious pests which suck the blood and juices of so many fowls, re- 
duce the system, and often destroy life—-remove and burn all straw and other 
htter, take out the perches and char them, with all the wood-work. This 
use of fire may be made more thorough by first carefully smearing the 
materials with refuse grease, but the strictest pains are requisite to prevent 
complete destruction. If the coop is not too valuable, it is well to wholly 
destroy it. Slaked lime, put in all the cracks and corners, has some effi- 
cacy. A good additional measure, and one that is often alone sufficient, is 
the washing of all parts with a lotion made of one pound of potash and a 
quart of water, followed with a copious application of kerosene oil. The 
droppings furnish a favorite harbor for such insects, and they should be re- 
moved, with several inches of the dirt, as directed above, and be applied as 
manure to a garden or field, and plowed under. 
Food and Drink.—lIn the present instance, when considering the par- 
ticular question of health, our remarks will be rather of a negative charac- 
ter, treating mainly of such articles as are undesirable. Whole corn in hot 
weather is unhealthful, as are also damaged grains, tainted meats, all putrid 
offal, and excessive amounts of meat, particularly when raw. A _ too 
sudden increase of green food induces diarrhcea, though it does no harm 
if kept constantly before the fowls. Peas, beans, pulse and malt are too 
stimulating. Over-feeding leaves imperfectly digested material in the 
blood and thus favors general disorder, and irregular feeding is always pre- 
judicial. 
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