VMRTIQO—PARAL YSI8—C BOP- SO UND. 55 



Symptoms. — Fowls affected with this disease may be observed to run around in a 

 birole, or to flutter about with but partial control over their muscular actions. 



Causes. — ^The affection is one evidently caused by an undue determination of 

 blood to the head, and is depei<dent on a full-blooded state of the system, 

 usually the result of oyer-feeding. 



Treatment. — Holding the head under a stream of cold water for a short time 

 hnmediately arrests the disease, and a strong dose of any aperient, such as three 

 grains of calomel and ten grains of jalap, or jalap alone, removes the tendency 

 to the complaint. The bird should be kept on a low diet for some time after the 

 attack. 



PAKALYSIS. 



Symptoms. — An inability to move some of the limbs. In fowls, thelegs usually 

 are affected, and are totally destitute of the power of motion. Care must be 

 taken not to confound this disease with leg-weakness, which will be described 

 under the head of Diseases of the Lim^s, and which requires a totally different 

 mode of treatment. 



Catises. — Paralysis usually depends on some affection of the spinal cord, and 

 is another result of over-stimulating diet. 



IVeaiment. — Nothing can be done by way of cure; the cases may be regarded 

 as hopeless, or nearly so. 



» DISEASES OF THE DIGESTIVE ORGANS. 



CROP-BOUHD. • 



Symptoms. — The crop, or membranous dilation of the gullet, whose office it is 

 to receive the food as it is swallowed, and transmit it in fflmall portions at a time 

 to the gizzard, is sometimes so overcharged that it is unable to expel its contents 

 into that organ. From the emptiness of the gizzard the bird feels hungry, and 

 by continuing to eat adds to the mischief, until at last, by the contraction of the 

 crop and the swelling of the grain, a hardened mass is formed, weighing in some 

 cases nearly a pound, and by the enormous protuberance it causes giving evi- 

 dent indications of its presence. Sometimes the disease is occasioned by asingle 

 object being swallowed, whose size is too large to permit it to pass Into the 

 stomach. In this case it serves as a nucleus for other matters, and a mass is 

 formed around it. 



Treatment. — The treatment of this disorder is very simple. With a sharp pen- 

 knife an incision must be made through the skin and then into the upper part of 

 the crop ; the hardened mass loosened by some blunt-pointed instrnment, and 

 removed. If it has remained many days and is very offensive, the crop may 

 then be washed out by pouring in some warm water. The incision, if small, may 

 be left, but if large, a stitch or two is advisable. The bird should be fed on soft 

 food for a day or two, and will rapidly recover. The administration of gin, as 

 is recommended by some ignorant writers, is certain to cause the death of a crop- 

 bound fowl. 



