342 THE DEER OF AMERICA. 



and died within a month. His liver was greatly enlarged and 

 gorged with bile. In both the East Park and in the orchard 

 this deer had found a plenty of arboreous food. 



When the Mule fawns were about a year old, they both showed 

 the same symptoms, — elongation of the hoofs. I immediately 

 took them up and put them on dry feed, and gave them small 

 doses of podophyUum, and tonics, as ginseng, quassia, quinine, 

 and the like, giving them daily a small supply of the foliage and 

 twigs of the wild cherry. Their hoofs immediately stopped the 

 abnormal growth, and in ten days they commenced ruminating 

 again, and in a month they were turned out quite well. These 

 are all the cases of this distemper I have ever had. In the fall 

 both these fawns were attacked with a diarrhea when they were 

 again put in hospital and treated as before, with promising re- 

 sults. The disease was checked, and returned several times, but 

 before winter the female died. The buck struggled with it for 

 two months, till finally he seemed quite recovered and did finely 

 till spring. The disease then returned and he succumbed when 

 two years old. In short this is the history of all the Mule Deer 

 I have had except the two first, and the one which died having 

 the elongated hoof. This disease has proved fatal to all the 

 Mule Deer after remaining healthy for one or two or three years, 

 and most of the Columbia deer have died of the same disease. 

 I have had a pretty extensive practice with these deer, and have 

 often been able to afford relief, but this disease was sure to re- 

 turn, perhaps, on some slight provocation. The last I had was 

 when the acorns were ripe, which I gathered and fed to her. 

 For a day this seemed but to aggravate the distemper, but being 

 persisted in she got much better, but my hopes were again dis- 

 appointed, and she died in November. Only these two species 

 have been afflicted with diarrhea. 



I have lost many Virginia Deer with a swelling under the 

 lower jaw. It commences two or three inches back of the chin, 

 and finally swells out so as to involve the whole head below the 

 eyes ; sometimes it gathers in a sac of half an ounce of pus-like 

 inatter, one of which I opened, but the deer died. I never knew 

 one to break itself. When the tame deer are attacked wath this 

 distemper, and it is observed in time, I have never failed to cure 

 it. If when it first appears it is examined, a small hard kernel 

 is found just under the skin. If this is then cut out the deer gets 

 well at once. Later, the lump seems to be dissipated, but if the 

 swelling has not extended above the lower jaw, though it may be 



