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become established b}' reason of the overcoming of all 

 attendant technical difficulties, e.g. Diphtheria, and 

 the almost complete success already attained to in 

 other diseases where the difficulties are at present only 

 in process of being overcome, make it certain that a 

 like happy result would attend its extension to the 

 Septicsemia of our captive and domesticated birds. 

 And this certainty is emphasized by the fact that 

 Pasteur has already met with complete success in the 

 serum treatment of Fowl Cholera. But seeing that the 

 systematic production of the curative and protective 

 serums is attended with such pecuniary expense that 

 it can only be undertaken where there is a reasonable 

 prospect of a steady, if even limited, market for them, 

 it follows that no bacteriologist will take the trouble to 

 prepare a serum containing the antitoxins of Avian 

 Septicaemia, until the owners of birds, i.e. the readers 

 of the weekl}' and monthly press, have learnt to 

 recognise the disease in its various forms. And this 

 unfortunately they will never do so long as the accepted 

 "pastors and masters " of aviculture (being themselves 

 unable to recognise the disease), are permitted to play 

 the " go as you please " game, and to inform them that 

 it is tuberculosis, scrofula, decline, gout," liver disease," 

 enteric fever, diphtheria, apoplexy, cancer, or whatever 

 else their fancy for the time being dictates, a7id viore- 

 over that insectivorous birds never contract it. They will 

 never be in a position to safeguard their own interests 

 in medical matters afifecting their birds so long as they 

 are misled by laymen in every possible way, while 

 anything like the real truth as to the laws of Nature 

 affecting health and disease is met with either active 

 hostility or else studiously ignored. How much longer 

 shall we bury our heads in the sand ? 



Seeing therefore that treatment with chemical.s — 

 even those which have the most powerful effect on the 

 bacilli — is but a chimerical fancy born of fevered 



