DISEASES. G7 



the bird was otherwise quite healthy, for the couple bred 

 with satisfactory results. As a remedy, a solution of nitrate 

 of silver (28) should be used betimes. 



Warts on the Eyelids, Swellings or Scirrhds of the 

 Eyelids, and of the cuticle, also occur ; they can only be 

 removed by operation. 



Gout, Eheumatism and Lameness occur not unfrequently 

 in parrots. Zlirn mentions two varieties of the first — festering, 

 and gouty inflammation of the joints, which, however, as far 

 as the parrot fancier is concerned, are very nearly the same. 

 Causes : Cold or injury, also sitting upon too narrow and sharp- 

 edged a perch. Symptoms : Loss of appetite, fever, swelling 

 of the joints of the wings and feet, which are at first hard, 

 very red, hot and painful, and then become soft and contain 

 a fluid of mingled blood and pus ; later on they get hard 

 again ; the contents, also, are hard, and resemble gall or cheese. 

 Sometimes, after a lapse of weeks, they heal of themselves, 

 but usually they leave enlargement of the joints behind ; in 

 other cases, emaciation sets in slowly, poverty of the blood, 

 pallor of the mucous membrane, then severe purging, and death 

 from exhaustion. Treatment : Warmth and dryness ; when 

 the swellings are inflamed and hot, cool with Goulard water 

 (11) or vinegar and water ; if hard, rub with spirits of camphor 

 (40), or spirits of ants (4), or smear with diluted tincture of 

 iodine (34). Wrap them up also in warm woollen rags; if 

 the swellings suppurate, cut them open, taking care not to 

 do it too soon, press them, and then rub with a solution of 

 carbolic acid (46). Give, in any case, an internal dose of 

 a solution of salicylic acid (73). The useless perches must^ 

 of course, be taken away, and replaced by good ones (see 

 p. 22). 



Kheumatic Pains, which occur without swelling of the joints 

 and cause painful lameness, and which arise from cold caught 

 from a draught or after a bath, I have cured, as a rule, by 

 rubbing with warm oil and wrapping up the suffering limb in a 

 warm woollen cloth, which must, however, be firmly sewn 

 on. Of course, the invalid must be kept in a warm room. 

 Other lamenesses, which arise from severe injury to internal 

 organs, can only be healed by the discovery and removal 



F 2 



