HEARING THE CHICKS. 125 



from the post-mortem revealing a bright yellow liver 

 if death ensues before they are three weeks old, and of a 

 nutmeg colour with yellow spots when older. But a 

 more descriptive name is '' fever." 



The greatest mortality occurs when the chicks are 

 about a month old, but this season we have known farms 

 where it has been very fatal at the age of two and three 

 months. From rumours iu the last two months, we 

 suspect the same thing is occurring in birds up to nine 

 months old, but we have not had opportunities of hold- 

 ing post-mortems to decide if the cause was this or the 

 worm '' Strongylus Douglassii." 



The symptoms are : — The birds are brisk and show 

 every appearance of health, till some morning they are 

 observed to crimp their necks, to appear languid, and to 

 constantly make a short little plaintive grunt. The fol- 

 lowing days some are observed to drop behind, and to be 

 rapidly losing their condition ; the belly loses its healthy 

 greenish-yellow tint, becomes pendulant and of a deep 

 blue colour ; a white circle is observed round the eye- 

 lids ; the legs grow a pinkish skin colour and thin ; 

 the birds sweat underneath at night, appear to feel the 

 slightest cold, lie down much when out of doors, and 

 huddle in the corners when indoors ; easily fall when 

 running about, and rise again slowly ; give forth a peculiar 

 aromatic smell from their feathers, which have a sticky 



