CHAPTER V 



DISEASES AND THEIR TREATMENT. 



Little Knowledge concerning Ailments. 



As one who has devoted considerable attention to the 

 diseases which afflict our canaries, I must confess that 

 our ignorance of the subject is great. There has been no 

 deep scientific research into the diseases to which canaries 

 are subject, and so far as I can see there is not Ukely 

 to be. I have made hundreds of experiments, but my 

 knowledge is not of a scientific character, and although 

 it is something more than theory it is only the deductions 

 that a practical breeder with a keen brain has been 

 able to draw from watching the course of disease in his 

 own stud and the studs of his many friends throughout 

 the country. My knowledge and experience of dogs, 

 poultry, pigeons, rabbits, and other animals has helped 

 me, as my experiments with canaries has also helped me 

 in connection with the other kinds of stock which I have 

 handled. StUl when all is said and done I must admit 

 that my knowledge is not great, but it is the result of prac- 

 tical experience, and as such is given for the benefit of 

 my fellows. 



Medical men who have given some attention to this 

 question naturally approach it with minds trained to the 

 symptoms of disease which occur in the human race. 

 Veterinary surgeons, as some of the leading men in the 

 profession have acknowledged to me, know little about 

 the diseases of canaries or any of the small household 

 pets. In the course of their training they have to read 

 up these subjects, but they get very little practical ex- 

 perience. Their knowledge is theory so far as their 

 training is concerned. When in practice some have 

 gained knowledge from post mortem work, but as in this 

 they are influenced by their college teaching concerning 



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