BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 



281 



A remedy, common in England, consists in mixing the grains which 

 are to be fed to the diseased birds \rith urine instead of water. Mon- 

 tagu, who tried this remedy without having any faith in its efficacy, was 

 surprised at the success which he achieved, and which proved to hiui 

 that it was not without utility. It is probable that the ammoniacal 

 emanations arising from the urine are poisonous to the red worm or its 

 em Dry 08. 



Wiesenthal relates that in America a hen's feather is stripped of its 

 barbs to near the point, introduced into the trachea and rotated Like a 

 brush to detach the worms. We strongly question the efficiency of 

 this practice; in the first place, because we know from experience that 

 the worms are too firmly attached to be removed by the friction of the 

 barbs of a feather. Should they be detached, however, they would ouly 

 be pushed to the root of the trachea, where, forming a ball, they would 

 augment the obstruction in the tube and thus bring about more promptly 

 the death of the bird. On the other hand, the diameter of the trachea 

 of a young pheasant from five to six weeks old, being scarcely equal to 

 that of the shaft of a hen's feather, will not permit the introduction of 

 the latter. Cobbold,* on the contrary, believes in the efficiency of this 

 method, and adds that this efficiency may be increased by impregnating 

 the feather with a germicide substance. Bartlett, who used salt for this 

 end, or a weak infusion of tobacco, informed him that the essence of 

 turpentine also had given excellent results. Cobbold adds with reason, 

 that unless great care be exercised with this method the birds may be 

 seriously injured.t 



These means, at once mechanical and medicinal, have been suggested 

 several times and varied in different ways. One of our correspondents 

 informed, us that he had cured pheasants of the red worm by removing 

 the parasites with a small rod and pouring into the mouth of the birds 

 a few drops of Fowler's solution. Another pretends to have removed 

 the parasites with a piece of copper wire, which had one end curved 

 like a handle and dipped into oleum hypericum (red oil). We do not 

 doubt that they could have succeeded in thus removing red worms 

 lodged in the pharynx, but we do not believe that they could have ex- 

 tracted worms by this method from the root of the trachea near the bi- 

 furcation of the bronchi, where they are most frequently lodged; for it 

 is actually impossible to employ a rod, and above all, a metallic wire 

 curved into a hook, as it would undoubtedly tear the trachea. The fact 

 that young pheasants, and more frequently adults sometimes recover 

 spontaneously from the gapes, may have given rist-. to their apparent 

 success. This happens when they are affected by only a small number 

 of parasites, which may go through the phases of their development 

 to their death without producing suffocation. This is the only mode of 



* Parasites: London, 1879; p. 445. 



tCobbold's exact words concerning this method are as follows {Joe eit): 

 "First. The simplest plan consists, as Dr. Wiesenthal long ago pointed out, in 

 stripping a feather from the tube to near the narrow end of the shaft, leaving only a 

 few uninjured webs at the tip. The bird beiug secured, the webbed extremity of the 

 feather is introduced into the windpipe. It is then twisted round a few times and 

 withdrawn, when the worms are found attached. In some instances this plan suc- 

 ceeds entirely. 



" Secondly. The above method is rendered more effectual when the feather is previ- 

 ously steeped in some medicated solution which will destroy the worms. Mr. Bart- 

 lett employs salt for this purpose, or a weak infusion of tobacco; and ho informs me 

 that the simple application of turpentine externally is sufficient to kill the worms. 

 It should be borne in mind that the bird itself may be injuriously affected by these 

 drugs if they are carelessly employed." Note that the turpentine is to bo used ex- 

 ternally. — Transr. 



