48 A HAND-BOOK OF THE MANAGEMENT OF ANIMALS 



there have been refractory and stupid animals which would persist in 

 lying on the floor. 



Adiposity has sometimes proved fatal. A nearly full-grown male 

 having died rather suddenly in October 1885, a post-mortem examination 

 was held, which showed that almost all the viscera of the animal were 

 embedded in masses of fat. This was no doubt caused by over- feeding 

 and want of exercise. 



A nail sometimes grows into the flesh of the pad, which festers, 

 unless it is cut and removed in time. This happened to an old man- 

 eating tiger, rendering the animal lame and miserable for some time. 

 To facilitate the operation of cutting the nails a special cage was built 

 with a proper device of a moveable frame inside the cage, for securing 

 the animal within a small space : the operation was then performed and 

 the wound dressed. In about ten days the animal was completely 

 cured. The best way, however, to prevent claws from growing in is to 

 put a log of wood in each cage so that the animal may scratch it when- 

 ever it likes. 



Worms sometimes prove very troublesome to these beasts. When 

 they are noticed or suspected a dose or two of santonine (grs. 4 to 5 in 

 each) will be effective. The easiest method of administering santonine 

 is to mix it with double or treble the weight of flowers of sulphur, and 

 give it concealed in a small piece of meat when the animal is hungry. 

 It is better to do so on a fasting day, as the animal should have no 

 food for about twelve hours before and after the santonine is given. 

 A small lump of black salt may be left inside the den, and if the 

 animal licks it the action of santonine is hastened. 



Tigers have sometimes been observed to suffer from tumours or 

 swellings at the joints, but the nature of these growths has never been 

 ascertained. 



The following report of an autopsy performed upon the body of a 

 tigress which died in November 1878 from the effect of some lingering 

 illness (of which no accurate diagnosis could be made) shows that 

 these animals in captivity sometimes die of complicated diseases : — 

 " Heart and lungs healthy, liver slightly congested, gall bladder full 

 of bile, and hepatic duct obstructed towards its termination. In the 

 intestines there was a constriction about three inches above the rectum, 

 and about an inch and a half above it, the mucous lining presented a 

 thickened appearance. On opening this, small pieces of bone were found 

 in different stages of disintegration impacted in an ulcerated surface. 

 The kidneys were abnormally large, the cortex peeling off on being 

 touched ; on opening them longitudinally patches of hardened granular 

 deposits were found all over the surface. Right ureter about three and 

 a quarter inches below the kidney was also full of the deposit. " 



An adolescent tigress has lately become subject to a kind of fits, 

 which come on every second or third day, sometimes oftener : for the 

 moment its limbs become paralysed and the whole body convulsed. 

 The nature of the disease has not been determined. (This animal having 

 since died, an autopsy was held and its stomach and intestines were 

 found to be full of small round worms.) 



Several cases of severe wounds have occurred among the tigers in this 

 garden, but almost all of them have recovered under careful treatment. 

 The general principle observed in the treatment of their wounds 



