Diseases of Canaries. 287 



occasional addition to the water of a little carbonate of magnesia and from ten to fifteen drops of 

 tincture of conium. At the commencement of an attack, in addition to opening the bowels in this 

 gentle way, some antispasmodic expectorant should be administered. Some give the ethereal 

 tincture of lobelia, with paregoric. We ourselves give preference to the simple tincture, ten drops 

 to a wine-glassful of water, and double that quantity of Spiritus cBtheris compositiis, usually called 

 Hoffman's anodyne. The addition, too, of a little glycerine can do nothing but good. Iodide of 

 potassium, a few grains in the daily water, might do good in old-standing cases ; our experience 

 of this treatment, however, is not yet sufficient to warrant its use in all. Tonics should be given 

 after the attack ; iron in some form we especially recommend, and to it may be added a few 

 drops — ten to fifteen, or even twenty — of the compound tincture of gentian. 



This treatment is sure to do good ; fresh cases it is pretty certain to cure, and chronic ones to 

 ameliorate. Be especially careful of asthmatical birds in cold, damp, or foggy weather. 



Loss of Voice. — This is a common complaint with Canaries, and in our opinion nine-tenths of 

 the cases are caused by exposure to the cold. If they are allowed to moult in a draughty place, 

 should nothing worse happen to them, you will often find that on attempting to resume their usual 

 song, however much they may strain, no music will flow. We do not find such cases difficult to 

 treat. It may be as well at first to give a drop or tv>'o of castor oil, then put a small tea-spoonful of 

 glycerine' in the water, a bit of gum-arabic as big as a large pea, and twenty drops of paregoric. 

 Let the diet be a little more generous, giving some good German paste, with a dust of cayenne on 

 it, and a supply of lettuce-leaf. There is nothing else required, unless some grated egg. 



DISEASES OF THE DIGESTIVE ORGANS. 



Diarrhcea, or looseness, is usually brought about by errors in diet, causing irritation of the 

 digestive canal. Green food, if given in too large quantities, will produce diarrhoea. It should not 

 be too wet either, and if it is left decaying about the cage, and thus eaten, it may cause the death 

 of the bird. Bad, unfresh, or unwholesome water is another frequent cause of this complaint ; so is 

 stale Qgg, or bread-and-milk that has turned sour. Exposure to cold, by sending the blood to the 

 internal organs, and stopping the natural perspiration, is one more source of diarrhoea ; while, 

 again, the disease is often induced from an overflow of bile, which is a laxative naturally. 



The stools are generally watery, and contain shreds of half-digested food. If there is much 

 irritation of the alimentary canal, the fseces will have an unpleasant sour odour. This disorder is 

 very weakening, and cannot prevail long without causing emaciation, and probably death. When 

 a Canary is attacked by diarrhoea, it ought to be at once turned into a clean dry cage, and hung 

 in a well-ventilated room, where it may obtain warmth without being deprived of fresh wholesome 

 air. Its food ought to be changed ; luncheon or arrowroot biscuits soaked in new milk should be 

 given, and the purity of the bird's drinking-water seen to. 



As diarrhoea is so often caused by the lurking in the system of some offending matter, which 

 the looseness is merely an effort of nature to expel, a couple of drops of pure warm castor oil should 

 begin the treatment. When the oil has had time to operate, we must try by healing remedies 

 gently to check the diarrhcea. To this end a little prepared chalk and some fresh vegetable 

 charcoal should be mixed with the biscuit food, or the chalk only may be used, and a little 

 powdered loaf sugar, while a small portion of gum may be added to the drinking-water. 

 Should this fail to check the purging, about fifteen drops each of the elixir of vitriol and 

 tincture of opium may be added to the drinking-water ; or a portion— say two tea-spoonfuls~> 

 of any ordinary chalk-mixture. If the stools are very watery and off"ensive, and an inflammatory 



