116 



CANARY BIRDS. 



shivering and thirst. The seat of the disease is in the 

 pituitous tunic of the mouth, jaw, and head of windpipe, the 

 pipe itself, the bronchies and the gut ; also the nasal mem- 

 branes and the cornea of the eye. A yellow, slimy moisture, 

 settling in a dark yellow or brownish crust, flows from the 

 nostrils ; the eyelids become swollen and glued together. The 

 duration of the illness is of tw T o weeks at the most. Pre- 

 ventative measures : Inspection of each newly-acquired bird, 

 and isolation of the same for the purpose of observation, 

 strictest isolation of every sick bird, immediate annihilation 

 of the carcass of the dead, and most careful cleansing of 

 cage and utensils with carbolic acid mixed with water. 

 Means of cure : The principal task will be to prevent con- 

 tagion, which may be spread by the slightest contact with 

 the excretions of the parts attacked ; daily doses of 1 drop 

 of carbolic acid in the drinking- water (1'500), and sprinkling 

 this solution with a "spray" over the diseased parts; the 

 crusts of sores must be softened with mild grease, but not 

 torn off by force ; also brushing with a solution of caustic. 

 Then brushing again with a solution of common salt (1*100), 

 for the eyes, a solution of salycilic acid (l'SOO), and a solu- 

 tion of copper-vitriol and also of tannin (1"500). For in- 

 ternal use, chloric acid of alcali (1-500). Two or three drops 

 three times a day are given, and externally the parts should 

 be brushed over with the same solution, but, in most cases, 

 cure is impossible. 



Debility of Digestion. — Symptoms: Want of appetite, 

 little evacuation, excrements brown and hard, lassitude. 

 Causes : Unsuitable or spoiled food, producing an abnormal 

 state of the gall and of the gastric juices. Remedies : Light 

 food, little green food, some salt, and tepid drinking-water. 

 Much benefit is derived from lukewarm claret, about tw T o or 

 three drops in the water. In England a shell of cayenne 

 pepper, or an infusion of it, is given. 



