126 Bird- keeping. 



liquorice is good for hoarseness, and scalded German 

 rape-seed for wheezing and shortness of breath. It 

 should be prepared thus : pour boiling water over it, 

 let it soak for two hours, wash it well in cold water, 

 strain, and dry it in a cloth or over a sieve ; or it may 

 be merely soaked all night in cold water, and well dried, 

 in which case it will keep for three days : if scalded, it 

 must be freshly made daily. This, and colifichet, or the 

 Hartz Mountain bread should be substituted for the 

 dry seed. Boiled milk may be given as an aperient, 

 and a lump of chalk if they have eaten too freely of 

 green food. Homoeopathic tinctures are very efficacious 

 for some ailments, and suit the highly sensitive organ- 

 ization of birds. I discovered this when my birds were 

 stricken down by a sudden change of temperature from 

 intense heat to cold, at the end of August, 1869. They 

 were moulting at the tirru,' and it affected them most 

 injuriously : I never saw a more deplorable spectacle 

 than they presented, huddled together, shivering and 

 gasping. Eight died of inflammation brought on by 

 the chill, and I feared I should lose them all. Allo- 

 pathic remedies failed to relieve them, and at last, in 

 despair, I resorted to the homoeopathic remedy for in- 

 flammation, and put a few drops of tincture of aconite 

 (3' x ) into the drinking-water. The birds drank eagerly 

 of it, and even bathed in it ; and finding them less suf- 

 fering after a few hours, I continued the remedy, giving 

 them mercurius also, and my little patients all recovered. 



