CHAPTER IV. 
DISEASES AND ACCIDENTS. 
Waterfowl are undoubtedly less liable to disease, especially 
epidemic disease, than are poultry ; but on the other hand it is 
much less easy to “‘doctor” a sick duck than a sick fowl, on 
account of the peculiar conformation of the tongue and throat 
in the former, which makes it a difficult matter to administer 
globules of paste or liquid medicine. 
The usual time for the importation of waterfowl is in 
early autumn, thus it will probably happen that the first illness 
developing itself among a stock of newly-arrived ducks, will 
be symptoms of cold with shivering and diarrhoea. In such 
cases it is wise to remove the birds affected, from the pond, 
and place them in a dry house, with an abundance of straw 
for their bedding, and coax the appetite by offering warm 
meal, bread and milk, boiled rice, hemp seed, and any dainties 
which the stranger accepts willingly. It is of the utmost 
importance to prevent ducks moping and refusing food, as 
under these circumstances, they are very likely to grow thin 
with alarming rapidity, and to fall into a consumption which 
invariably proves fatal. This is frequently the case when 
newly-imported birds, arriving in their old plumage, catch a 
chill, and are then unable to cast their feathers. Every 
precaution should be taken during the moulting season, when 
an abundance of nourishing food should be supplied and the 
bird kept warm. 
Worms. Wucks are liable to the invasion of several sorts 
of worms, one of which, called by Mr. Mégnin the Aéstrichis 
