PET ANIMALS. 359 



solid food, such as barley- meal, oatmeal, bran, &c., is the best 

 remedy, with a sprig of parsley or fennel, and a small quantity of 

 good sweet hay now and then ; two tablespoonfuls of water, and not 

 more, a day, may also be administered, as likewise oatmeal and green 

 peas made into a stiffish paste. 



For the LIVER COMPLAINT there is no remedy; the only thing 

 which can be done is to promote the health of the animals as much as 

 possible by keeping their houses and hutches warm, dry, and clean, 

 for everything which adds to their general health acts as preservative 

 against attacks of this disorder. 



The SNUFFLES are occasioned by damp and cold, and whilst this 

 complaint lasts the rabbits must be carefully dieted and secured 

 from damp and variations of the atmosphere ; boiled potatoes and 

 bran, made into a paste, or barley-meal, or oatmeal, and ground 

 peas mixed up into a stiff paste, with a little milk or water, will be 

 found the best food, and no water nor green food of any kind should 

 be given. As the animals recover, their diet may be changed by 

 degrees, giving at first a little clover or sweet hay, and slices of 

 carrot, and then gradually the vegetables to which they have gene- 

 rally been accustomed. 



POT-BELLY is a disorder to which most young tame rabbits are 

 subject; the symptoms are enlargement of the belly, and weak, and 

 poor appearance of the sufferers. The most certain restoratives are 

 air and exercise, which they should therefore be allowed whenever an 

 opportunity offers. Much dry food, and a very small allowance of 

 water, prove likewise very beneficial ; and the only vegetables which 

 can be given with safety are carrots and parsnips. Unless the poor 

 animals are soon cured of this complaint they die. 



RED- WATER is a complaint of the kidneys, frequently caused by 

 wrong food, or damp and cold. The rabbit suffering from this 

 malady must be put into a warm, dry, comfortable hutch, and 

 supplied with oatmeal, bran, baked or boiled potatoes, &c. ; two or 

 three table- spoonfuls of water in which bran has been soaked, may 

 be given every day ; in the summer a few leaves of the milk thistle 

 and lettuce, will be of great service. 



LAWS RELATING TO RABBITS. 



By the common law, if rabbits come on a man's ground and eat 

 his corn or herbage, he may kill them. By the 7 and 8 George IV. 

 c. 26, sec. 36, if any person wilfully and unlawfully, in the night 

 time, take or kill any rabbit in a warren, or place kept for breeding 

 rabbits, whether inclosed or not, he is guilty of a misdemeanour; 

 and if in the day-time, the offender shall forfeit such sum, not 

 exceeding five pounds, as to the justice before whom he may be 

 convicted shall seem meet. 



