Gapes and Worms of Poultry. 163 



Montague and Maguire have had good results with garlic, 

 either chopped up in the food or given in pills to birds 

 suffering from gapes. The volatile properties act on the 

 worms in the trachea, and it is said cause them to loosen their 

 hold. Onion or garlic given to chicks in the food is certainly 

 advisable; not only is it good for them, but I believe it keeps 

 off the worm. 



Tracheal infections with iodine or eucalyptus oil can also 

 be employed with success, but care is required in this method 

 of treatment, and, therefore, it is not to be recommended. The 

 fumigating-box is the best plan for general use. 



A 1 p.c. solution of salicylic acid given to the birds to 

 drink instead of pure water in a district where gapes is pre- 

 valent is likely to be of some value, as it apparently affects 

 the young of this worm, but, at the same time, it must be 

 remembered that numbers of embryos are obtained from 

 earthworms and off the ground. 



II. White Thread Worms of the Fowl. 

 [Heterakis inflexa and. papulosa.) 



Amongst the numerous parasitic worms of the fowl which 

 live in the alimentary canal, the white thread worms are the 

 most important and are most often met with. 



These white worms, of which two species are often found in 

 Great Britain, sometimes appear in epizootic form and may 

 cause serious mortality, the disease being as a rule attri- 

 buted to other factors. 



Damage probably caused by these worms in domestic 

 birds was recorded as far back as 1789 by Baronio,* and 

 certainly by Blavette and Rossignolf in 1840. I have 

 frequently come across these worms, and could attribute 

 death to no other cause than their presence ; at the same 

 time I have seen numbers of fowls suffering from these nema- 

 todes, and yet not much affected by their sojourn in their 

 alimentary canal. 



In post-mortem examinations I have found both species 



* Vide Fleming, History of Animal Plagues, L, p. 529. 1891. 



t Recueil d. Med. Vet. Pratique, xvii., 1S40, p. 339, and xxxv., p. 34^. 1S5S. 



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