214 



"First of all examine the liver. To be perfectly healthy, it 

 should be of a rich chocolate brown color, free from any specks, and 

 free from any discoloration (although there are sometimes post- 

 mortem discolorations at the edges, which are easily recognizable). 

 If the liver contains any specks it is unhealthy, as it should not be 

 what is known as pasty or rotten. Healthy and firm to the touch 

 and of the proper color, is the general description to apply to the 

 liver. The heart should then be looked at, and it should also be quite 

 firm, free from any excessive covering of fat, and also quite free from 

 little nodules of tuberculosis. Another thing about the heart is that 

 it should be even lobed that is to say, it should not be distended 

 on one side and empty on the other; if it be so, the probability is 

 that the bird has died from heart failure, and supposing it is known 

 that the bird did die suddenly, this can at once be accepted as the 

 cause syncope, failure of heart's action, w r hich always ends in very 

 sudden death, the bird simply dropping down dead without any 

 warning. The lungs, which will be seen on either side at the back of 

 the heart, are spongy looking bodies of a pink color. If a piece of 

 one of the lungs can be cut off and be placed in a bowl of water it 

 should float, not sink, or it will be unhealthy. Always look at the 

 lungs for tuberculosis, which is usually to be detected there, and is 

 Indicated by little cheesy nodules in the substance of the lungs, which 

 <cannot possibly be mistaken; sometimes the lungs and the heart will 

 all be eaten by these tuberculosis masses. If no disease has been found 

 rso far, proceed to examine the crop and the gullet, also the windpipe. 

 TWith regard to the crop, it might almost be examined first if it is full 

 of food, and apparently in a state of congestion, to see whether there 

 be a stoppage in the opening from the crop to the proventricle. The 

 gullet and windpipe can also be examined to see if there is anything 

 unhealthy about them. Similarly an examination can then be made of 

 the intestines, and in the case of a hen the egg organs can be carefully 

 dissected to see whether there is a broken egg, or whether any egg 

 substance has escaped into the cavity of the abdomen and set up in- 

 flammation." 



"There is no difficulty about making an examination of the skull 

 and the amateur with a little practice will very easily be able to do 

 this. The way to set about it is to start at one corner of the mouth, 

 and with a pair of sharp pointed scissors cut around the skull to the 

 other corner of the mouth ; it will then be quite an easy matter to lift 

 up the skull from the back, and the brain will be clearly seen. This 

 should be perfectly clear, and if there be any trace of a slight effusion 

 of blood, it will be positive evidence of an apoplectic seizure, and will 

 confirm the symptoms of apoplexy, which are delirium, resulting, after 

 a few hours or a few days helplessness, in death. These, then, are 

 the principal points, and any amateur can make a simple matter-of- 

 fact .examination such as has been described, very often with consider- 

 able satisfaction to himself." 



PRECAUTION. 



Under no circumstances should you doctor a sick fowl or make an 

 examination of one and then go and feed and water your poultry 

 without first taking every precaution to cleanse your hands. You 

 may spread disease in this way, and can also carry it on your shoes 



