30 DISEASES OF POULTRY. 



severe, affects all or nearly all the birds in a flock and 

 only yields to energetic and prolonged treatment. ' In 

 case of long -continued cold and damp weather, birds 

 in different flocks may be affected at the same time, 

 leading to the suspicion of an infectious disease, 

 although it is really due to climatic conditions acting 

 over a large territory at the same time. It is important 

 to make a careful examination as soon as the disease 

 appears and to determine whether it is simple catarrh 

 or infectious catarrh, as the treatment to be adopted 

 in the two cases differs materially. 



Symptoms. — In simple, non-contagious catarrh, the 

 affected birds are more or less dull, they are disinclined 

 to move, their appetites are diminished, they sneeze and 

 the mucous membrane is thickened, causing some ob- 

 struction to breathing through the nostrils . There soon 

 appears a thin, watery discharge which later becomes 

 thicker and glutinous, the eyes are often watery, the 

 eyelids swollen and sometimes held together by a thick, 

 viscid secretion. In very severe cases, the birds are 

 somnolent, the plumage is erect and roughened, the 

 nostrils are completely obstructed by the thick sec- 

 retion, the breathing is entirely through the mouth 

 and is accompanied by a wheezing or snoring sound, 

 the appetite is entirely lost, a thin liquid escapes from 

 the mouth and the bird soon becomes exhausted ai:d 

 dies. In the milder cases simple catarrh may disappear 

 without treatment, in the course of two or three days ; 

 or, in case the cause is allowed to persist, the birds 

 may become worse and die, or the disease may be- 

 come chronic and continue its effects for a long time. 



Causation. — Simple catarrh is the result of undue 

 exposure to cold and dampness or to draughts of air. It 

 is most commonly seen where the houses are damp and 



