THE DIGESTIVE ORGANS AND AILMENTS 



appearances, though the latter are not by any means 

 " always " confirmatory. When speaking of the causes of 

 inflammation of the bowels, no mention has been made of 

 the disease coccidiosis, which is an affection occasionally 

 observed in young Pheasants, producing an epizootic, and 

 sometimes atacking fowls and turkeys about two or three 

 months old, in which it is a very fatal malady. The 

 coccidia are found in the glands of the intestine, and their 

 presence destroys the epithelial cells of the glands. The 

 leading symptom of this disease is diarrhoea, therefore the 

 rearing-ground soon becomes a medium of infection. The 

 moral of this is to change the birds to fresh ground. No 

 other treatment beyond that of prevention in the manner 

 indicated, combined with thorough disinfection of all the 

 coops and appliances, is likely to be of any service, when 

 dealing with a trouble of this kind. 



IVorms 



Pheasants, like all other animals and birds, are liable to 



harbour in the digestive tract various species of worms, 



some being flat, others round. The tajniadae or tape-worms 



are occasionally very numerous in the intestines of the 



Pheasant, and capable of setting up, by their presence, acute 



inflammation of the bowels, particularly in young birds. 



Sometimes the bowels will be almost completely blocked 



up with masses of tape-worm, which, needless to say, soon 



lead to a fatal issue, although there are no symptoms during 



life that will enable one to suspect the existence of a 



parasitic trouble of this nature. Until verified by a 



post-mortem, one can easily conceive an affection of this 



kind being confounded with enteric arising from other 



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