Diseases oe Canaries. 291 



which must be subdued by frequently bathing the parts in hot water, and afterwards applying a 

 httle tincture of opium. At the same time a little Epsom salts put in the water will help to reduce 

 the swelling. 



Wounds. — These are the result of accident, and are most common about the feet. The 

 bird must be caught, and the feet carefully washed in warm water ; the wound should then be 

 touched with some astringent to favour healing. The sore or wound must be seen to every 

 day, and twice a day, until it is perfectly healed. A weak solution of sulphate of zinc is a good 

 astringent — say about five grains to the ounce of water — or the wound may be touched with 

 wetted alum, or Friar's balsam, or with tincture of myrrh. But whichever is used, perfect 

 cleanliness must not be neglected, and the perch and other portions of the cage kept clean. 



Wounds in other parts of the body are best treated on somewhat similar principles, but 

 for these I recommend for antiseptic purposes a wash of carbolic acid lotion and water. A 

 couple of tea-spoonfuls of the strong lotion which chemists make should be thrown into a 

 cupful of cold spring water, and the surface of the wound washed daily therewith. If the 

 surface of the wound looks unhealthy, stimulation is necessary, and for this purpose the 

 sulphate of zinc lotion, already recommended, will do, or the sulpho-carbolate of zinc may be 

 used, in the proportion of three grains to the ounce of water. 



Ulceration may be checked by a weak solution of chloride of zinc, or by this lotion : two 

 ounces of water, twenty drops of the dilute nitric acid, and ten grains of extract of opium ; 

 this relieves the pain while it cools the surface. 



While birds are suffering from wounds or any suppurating sore, they should be liberally 

 fed and kept warm, but at the same time have plenty of pure fresh air. 



Pest. — I apply this term, in lieu of a better, to a kind of fever, or plague almost, that 

 sometimes breaks out in bird-rooms where a large quantity of Canaries are crowded together. 

 Death often takes place very rapidly in such cases, and the feathered ranks are thinned by 

 the dozen. The causes of this pest I attribute to the neglect of sanitation and the common 

 laws of hygiene, the want of pure air and cleanliness, and the leaving of decayed vegetable 

 matter about the cages or in the bird-room. 



When such an outbreak takes place, no time should be lost ; the cages should be at once 

 thoroughly cleaned and disinfected, and the birds removed into another room where they can 

 get fresh air and a moderate amount of sunshine. Some mild aperient should be given, and 

 a tea-spoonful of good brandy placed in the drinking-water, with a few drops of paregoric. 

 The food should be light and nutritious, and Sanitas powder should be placed in the bottom 

 of the cage and scattered all round the room. Afterwards every cage should be thoroughly 

 prepared with the same care as you would a breeding-cage, and the bird-room itself com- 

 pletely cleaned and disinfected. 



In all our dealings with Canaries we should be as gentle as possible, and in their more 

 severe illnesses regularity in giving the medicines, and sticking unflinchingly to the plan of 

 treatment that seems necessary, will generally pull the worst cases through. 



Every one who has a bird-room should possess a small box or cabinet, containing the following 

 drugs : — Castor oil, gum-arabic, glycerine, carbonate of magnesia, cod-liver oil, prepared chalk, 

 vegetable charcoal, nitrate of potash, gentian root, cascarilla and calumba barks, dandelion-juice, 

 Epsom salts, vinum ipecacuanhse, elixir of vitriol, Hofifman's anodyne ; and the following tinctures 

 — Tinctura, ferri, tinctura camph. co. (paregoric), tinct. catechu, tinct. belladonnae, tinct. opii 

 (laudanum), tinct. conii, tinct. gentians, and tinct. lobelise. A pestle and mortar, a minim 

 measure, and small camel's-hair brush will also be found useful. 



