REMEDIES FOR WORMS. 113 



of sulphuric acu. The acid is cheap, liut requires that i,'reiit care lie used in diluting it, owing 

 to daiigor of it splashing upon the clothing and fle^h, and causing severe burns. It should 

 always lie poured slowly Into the water lor dilution, hut on no account should water be 

 poured into the acid, as it will cause explosions and splashing. When treating diseased birds 

 thete should always be isolated and confined, and their droppings should either be burned 

 or treated with lime or sulphuric acid as just recommended. Without these hygienic 

 measures, medical treatment can only be partially successful." 



For medical treatment the same authority says : — " One of the best methods of treating tape 

 worms in fowls is to mix in the feed a teaspoonful of powdered pomegranate root bark for 

 every fifty head of birds. In treating a few birds at a time it is well to follow this medicine 

 with a purgative dose of castor oil (two to three teaspoon fu Is).'' * » » 



" For the treatment of the heterakis (round worm) Meguin recommends mixing santonine 

 with the food given to the (owls. The powdered santonine may Ije incorporated in a cake, the 

 dose being 7 or 8 grains for each bird. An efficient remedy Is made by boiling an ounce each 

 of male fern, tansy, and savory in a pint of water. The resulting liquid is mixed with flour, 

 which is then made into pills and administered to the affected birds. * « * Oil (if turpen- 

 tine is an excellent remedy for all worms which inhabit the digestive canal. It may be given 

 In the dose of one to three teaspoonfuls, and is best administered by forcing it through a small, 

 fjexible catheter that has been oiled and passed through the mouth and sesophagus to the crop. 

 The medicine is less severe in its effects it diluted with an equal bulk of olive oil, butif it fails 

 to destroy the parasites when so diluted It may ije given pure." 



The remedies given by Sanborn ;c "Farm-Poultry Doctor," are slightly different. He advises 

 for round worm a two grain pill of santonine followed by a half-teaspoonfulof castor oil. This 

 to lie given about an hour before feeding every other morning for a week. For tape w orm be 

 prescribes five dropsof oil of male fern in one teaspoonful of sweet oil. This to be given liefore 

 feeding in the morning, and tlie morning feed given about Uyo hgurs after to be a warm mash 

 of bran and milk containing for each bird one teaspoonful of castor oil. 



The Last Resort. 



When worms of any kind become so troublesome as to cause heavy losses It Is probably the 

 best policy to discontinue keeping poultry on the premises for a time proportionate lo the 

 violence of the epidemic and the general condition of the buildings and soil. On an old plant 

 It might be advisaiile to keep no poultry for two or three years. On a new plant a thorough 

 cleaning up and disinfecting preliminary to the introduction of new stock presumed, to be free 

 from the trouble should be sufBcient. 



To what extent losses of poultry are due to worms. It is not possible to say. Doubtless many 

 epidemics of so-called cholera and dysentery are caused by worms, and the unfortunate poultry 

 keeper never suspects the real cause of the trouble. It is for this reason that anyone engaL'ed 

 in poultry keeping who has heavy losses ho cannot account for ought to try to have an expert 

 ex:imination of diseased fowls made. This will in most cases show where the trouble lies. 



