236 DISEASES OF DOMESTICATED BIRDS 
covered to prevent evaporation. If the bird is infected, larve recog- 
nizable with the naked eye, will after a time be seen on the glass. 
The number present furnishes a rough indication of the extent of the 
infection. 
Prevention. It is possible to raise ostrich chicks free from in- 
fection when suitable precautions are carried out. Small runs 50 by 
150 feet are quite large enough. If clean ground over which os- 
triches have not run is not available, it is possible to render an area 
safe by removing the soil to a depth of three inches. The runs should 
be so located that there is no contact with infected birds, and so that 
there is no possibility of infection through drainage into them. The 
runs should be stocked with incubator chicks, or chicks removed from 
the nest immediately after hatching. The feed will be of the usual 
character, derived from land that has not been contaminated by in- 
fected birds. If hens are kept with the chicks, all feces of the adult 
birds should be picked up daily. These precautions will permit 
raising ostrich chicks to such an age that wireworm infestation is 
no longer dangerous to the birds, and has the additional advantage 
of preventing sclerostome and tapeworm infestation. 
Treatment. No treatment has been discovered which can be de- 
pended upon to expel all the worms from an infected bird. The lo- 
cation of the worms in the mucosa and glands is such as to dis- 
courage belief that a successful treatment will be found. A num- 
ber of substances when tested in vitro are undoubtedly effective in 
killing the parasites. A number of methods of treatment have 
been tested by Theiler and Robertson, who judged the effect by ob- 
serving the influence of the treatment on the numbers of eggs in the 
feces both by microscopical observation and by worm cultures. 
Carbolic acid in a dose of 300 ¢.c. of a 2.5 per cent solution caused 
the eggs to become rare for 14 days after which they became as 
numerous as they were before treatment. Several trials with this 
agent led to the conclusion that the dose employed, which is equiva- 
lent to 7.5 grams of pure carbolic acid, checks the laying of eggs for 
a while without killing all the worms. 
A treatment was tried which consists of administering 300 cc. of 
paraffin (kerosene), followed after 24 hours by 1 ounce each of slaked 
lime and of sal-ammoniac. It has been claimed that the paraffin dis- 
solves the mucus-like layer over the worm infested area, and that the 
ammonia resulting from the reaction between the drugs administered 
later kills the worms. However, the trial failed to demonstrate any 
effect upon the worms. 
