CTtAMP- u:', 



l)efore using it again for tliu piirposn (jF rearing jdieasanls di- 

 ]inultry. 



Since the publication of ilie early editions of this book, 

 some exceedingl}' important investigations into the nature of 

 the diseases of young pheasants have heeu made by Di'. M. 

 Klein. The first of the^e iliseases is that known to keepers 

 under the name of "the cra.mps." This occasionally causes 

 gi-eat mortality amongst young birds, attacking them usually 

 (hiring the second or third weid^. It is described by Dr. 

 Klein as commencing with lameness in (uie leg. The next 

 day the other becomes lame, and the bii-d sits motionless, and 

 when made to move drags both limlis along the ground. 

 Death generally occurs on the third day. On examination 

 after death, the thigh-bone (tlie femni-), or that of the leg 

 (the tibia), or both, will be found soft, and in advanced cases 

 broken, sometimes with great extravasati(jii of blood into the 

 surriuiuding tissues. The fracture generally occurs near the 

 ends of the b(jne, whether that of the thigh or the leg. 

 IMicrosoopic examination shows that the interior of the bone 

 is highly inflamed, the result of the presence of bacilli, which, 

 as in other infectious diseases, can oe spread from one biixl to 

 another. 



The ti-eatinent of this disease is very simple. The moment 

 it is recognised the young birds slujuld lie destroyed and 

 luirned. AVheu this is acted on, at the lieginning of the 

 e]iidemic, it may ])revent any further infection ; but it is 

 possible that the microlie may exist in the ground, from 

 which it Hntls an entrance into the system of the birds. This 

 view is very possibly the case, as e.xjjerienced keepers know 

 that "cramps" occur when the coops are kept ou damp soil, 

 and that when removed to higher dry ground the disease dies 

 out. 



In a sulisecinent communication to the Field in the 

 following year, Dr. Klein says: "I still attribute the cramp 

 disease to a bacillary infection of the system of the bii'd 

 leading to corrosion and fracture of the bones." 



