48 



with a decoction of soapwort. If a foot should be 

 bruised or broken, he advises that the diseased bird 

 should be shut up in a very small cage, the bottom of 

 which is very smooth and even, without any perches, 

 or anything which would tempt him to hop, and put 

 in a very quiet and solitary place, out of the way of 

 anything which might produce agitation. In this 

 manner the bird will cure itself in a little time, with- 

 out any bandage or plaster of any kind. 



Atro])liy. — This is caused by giving unnatural food 

 to the bird, which destroys the digestive power of its 

 stomach. In this case it disgorges, ruffles its feathers, 

 and does not arrange them, and becomes thin very fast. 

 The best thing is to make it swallow a common spider, 

 which purges it, and put a rusty nail into its water, 

 which strengthens the intestines, giving it at the same 

 time its proper and natural food. Green food, such- 

 as lettuce, endive, chickweed, and particularly water- 

 cresses, is the safest remedy. A very great appetite 

 is a sign of this disease. A siskin, that was dying of 

 atrophy, had nothing but water-cresses the three 

 days following, and on the fourth he sung. 



It is rare for canaries which are kept for breeding 

 to live longer than from seven to ten years; w^hile 

 others, if well used, may be preserved for eighteen or 

 twenty years. 



