POULTRY— CARE AND MANAGEMENT. 



257 



comfort to the creatures intrusted to our 

 care. 



POULTRY, Apoplexy.— This disease is 

 very frequent among fowls, and makes its 

 attack, in most instances, without the 

 slightest warning. M. Flourens, of Paris, 

 says there are two degrees of apoplexy 

 among fowls— one deep-seated and the 

 other superficial — each having different 

 symptoms. Deep-seated apoplexy is char- 

 acterized by complete disorder of move- 

 ment, while superficial apoplexy is mani- 

 fested only by deficient muscular energy 

 and inability in walking. Deep-seated 

 apoplexy is accompanied by superficial 

 apoplexy; but as the latter is the pre- 

 cursor of the former, it ought to be care- 

 fully attended to, in order to prevent its 

 passing to what may be termed the second 

 stage, though both stages are capable of 

 being cured by a natural process, as an 

 individual case proves. 



M. Flourens had brought to him in the 

 month of April a young fowl, whose gait 

 indicated that of a tipsy animal so much 

 that the peasants called it the " tipsy hen." 

 Whetherstanding, or walking, or running, 

 it reeled and staggered, advancing always 

 in a zigzag manner, frequently turning to 

 the right when it wished to turn to the left, 

 and to the left when it wished to turn to 

 the right, and instead of going forward it 

 went backward. Its legs also often bent 

 under it, so that it fell down ; above all, 

 when it flew high up to perch, it could 

 not govern nor regulate its movements, 

 but fell and rolled about on the ground a 

 long while without being able to get upon 

 its legs or recover its balance. These 

 movements so nearly resemble those 

 which had been produced by experiment, 

 that M. Flourens was impatient to ex- 

 amine the brain. He found the bone of 

 the skull to be covered with black carious 

 points. On penetrating the dura mater, 

 a quantity of clear water ran out, while 

 the cerebellum was yellowish, rust-colored 

 streaks on the surface, and in the centre 

 was a mass of purulent coagulated matter 

 as large as a horse-bean, contained in a 

 cavity perfectly isolated, and having its 

 sides very thin and smooth. 



Symptoms. — The symptoms of apo- 

 plexy are plain and decisive. A fowl, 

 apparently in the most robust health, falls 

 down suddenly, and is found either dead, 

 or without sensation or the power of 



*7 



motion. These symptoms are occasioned 

 by the rupture of a small vessel (usually 

 at the base of the brain), and the con- 

 sequent effusion of blood, which, by its 

 pressure, produces the evil. 



Causes. — Apoplexy is almost invari- 

 ably caused by a full habit of body ; it is 

 therefore frequent in overfed birds, and is 

 most common among laying hens, which 

 are sometimes found dead on the nest — 

 the expulsive efforts required in laying 

 being the immediate cause of the attack. 

 Unnatural and overstimulating food, as 

 greaves, hemp-seed, and a large propor- 

 tion of pea or corn meal, greatly predis- 

 poses to the disease. 



This disorder is termed by some epi- 

 lepsy, megrims, or giddiness. Many 

 promising chickens are lost by this com- 

 plaint. Without any kind of warning, 

 they fall, roll on their backs, and struggle 

 for a minute or two, when they rise, 

 stupid and giddy, and slowly return to 

 their food. One fit having occurred, is 

 quickly followed by others, each more 

 violent than the preceding, until at length 

 the little animal staggers about, half un- 

 conscious, refusing to eat, rapidly wasting, 

 and soon dies convulsed. In some cases 

 it occurs when the fowl is poor and half- 

 starved ; but then the food has been im- 

 proper; it has been watery or disposed to- 

 fermentation; diarrhoea has followed, and 

 the fits are the consequence of intestinal 

 irritation. Other young fowls will have 

 occasional fits, from which, however, they 

 in most cases rapidly recover, and appear 

 to be little or nothing the worse for them. 



Treatment. — In this disease much 

 may be done in the way of prevention — 

 little toward a cure in an actual attack ;. 

 the only hope consists in an instant and 

 copious bleeding. It has been said that 

 bleeding is out of the question ; for how 

 is a bird to be bled, and where ? We 

 would reply, it is not out of the question ; 

 for we have saved the lives of several 

 birds by its prompt employment. And 

 as to the mode of operating, it is the 

 same as in other animals — simply opening 

 a vein with a sharp-pointed pen-knife, or, 

 still better, a lancet. The largest of the 

 veins seen on the under side of the wing 

 should be selected, and opened in a longi- 

 tudinal direction, not cut across ; and so 

 long as the thumb is pressed on the vein, 

 at any point between the opening and the. 



