Diseases. 245 



the advice and assistance of an expert tlie owner must 

 himself make an attempt. If he fails, the bird can 

 only die, and if he succeeds, his reward will be great. 

 One thing is certain, unless a bird so afflicted is 

 operated upon death will quickly ensue, and it will not 

 be a painless death. Therefore, in operating, the 

 owner has nothing to lose and everything to gain. 



The cancerous mass should be carefully located, 

 and watched for a da\' or two before the operation 

 takes place. The bird in the meantime should be 

 placed in a pen by itself, fed on wheat and canary seed, 

 and its drinking water medicated aS' previously des- 

 cribed, or else the salts given dry morning and night. 

 In a couple or three days at the most the operation 

 should take place. The cancerous mass should be 

 carefullj^ worked up as close to the outer skin as 

 possible, then a sharp clean cut should be made down 

 through the skin, and the cheesy matter removed with 

 some blunt instrument. 



When it has all been removed wash the wound 

 with warm water containing a few drops of Sanitas or 

 Jeyes' Fluid, dry carefully, and anoint with Zinc Oint- 

 ment. Leave the wound open, on no account close it; 

 if you close it another deposit will quickly form, and 

 the last stage will be worse than the first. Leave it 

 open and wash it twice a day with warm water and 

 vSanitas or Jeyes' Fluid; dry, and anoint with the Zinc 

 Ointment. Should any fresh cheesy matter make 

 its appearance remove it and continue the treatment 

 advised both internal and external. In nine cases 

 out of ten the wound will heal up, and the bird recover. 



GOING LIGHT. 



This is the fanciers' term for what is really atrophy, 

 or wasting away. Birds afflicted eat most ravenously, 

 vet get thinner and thinner; diarrhrca usually super- 

 venes, and carries them off. Many cases start with 

 simple derangement of the di.gestive organs, and it 

 attended to m time fatal results seldom accrue. A 

 dose or two of salts, followed by a course of good 

 Tonic Pills, will soon vield good results. In advanced 



