Our  Canaries 
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poisonous.  The  value  of  a  medicine  may  also  be  considerably  reduced  by 
placing  it  in  "hard"  water,  such  as  the  ordinary  service  supply  in  most 
places.    To  derive  the  fullest  benefit  from  that  useful  medicine  Chemical  Food, 
 to  give  Parrish's  Syrup  of  Phosphates  its  popular  name — it  is  essential  to 
administer  it  in  distilled  water.  When  placed  in  hard  water  the  mineral 
salts  held  in  suspension,  which  give  the  character  of  hardness  to  the  water,  act 
upon  certain  of  the  ingredients  in  the  syrup  and  precipitate  them  to  the 
bottom  where  they  will  be  found  in  the  form  of  sediment,  and  much  of  the 
virtue  of  the  medicine  is  lost.  To  be  on  the  safe  side  it  is  best  to  make  a  point 
of  using  distilled  water  only  when  giving  any  form  of  medicine  whenever  possible, 
and  where  this  is  not  available  to  use  the  next  best  substitute,  which  is  to  be 
had  everywhere,  viz.,  clean  rain-water,  filtered  and  well  boiled,  or  next  to  this, 
the  ordinary  hard  water,  well  boiled,  in  either  case  allowing  it  to  stand  until 
cold  before  use. 
SYMPTOMS  AND  DIAGNOSIS. 
Upon  this  subject  we  do  not  purpose  being  prolix  and  verbiose,  as  it  is 
extremely  doubtful  whether  lengthy  details    on  the  subject  can  ever  be  of 
practical  value  to  the  ordinary  observer.     Beyond  a   very   few  pronounced 
symptoms,  the  significance  of  which  will  be  given  in  the  proper  place,  there 
is  very  little  in  the  external  appearance  of  a  bird  to  convince  the  casual  observer 
of  what  is  really  wrong  inside.    It  may  be  merely  a  chill  due  to  a  chance 
exposure  to  cold  draughts,  or  it  may  be  the  worst  scourge  of  the  fancier- 
septic  fever — the  external  appearance  will  be  precisely  the  same  in  the  eyes 
of  the  great  majority  of  owners.    What,  then,  can  the  owner  do  in  such 
circumstances  ?     His  best  course  may  be  clearly  outlined.     He  should  first 
carefully  consider  all  the  details  of  his  feeding  and  management,  and  the 
generally  prevailing  conditions,  and  endeavour,  with  the  help  of  the  list  of 
ailments  and  remedies  given  presently,  to  arrive  at  the  true  state  of  affairs, 
and  commence  the  treatment  which  seems   most   appropriate.     Should  the 
patient  fail  to  respond  at  once  to  this  treatment  no  time  should  be  lost  in 
sending  a  brief  account  of  the  symptoms,  age,  sex  and  breed  of  bird,  how 
and  where  kept,  and  how  [it  is  fed  and  treated  generally,  to  the  Editor  of  the 
weekly  journal.  Cage  Birds,  and  look  out  for  a  reply  in  the  next  available  issue.  If 
several  birds  become  ill  and  die  off  in  succession,  it  is  always  safest  to  act  on 
the  supposition  that  the  illness  is  of  a  contagious  or  infectious  nature,  perhaps 
both,  and  to  put  in  force  without  loss  of  time  the  most  stringent  system 
of  isolation  and  disinfection  at  command,  until  assured  of  the  real  nature  of 
the  complaint.    To  be  satisfied  on  this  point  one  should  get  a  post  mortem  on  the 
remains  of  one  of  the  first  victims  after  suspicion  is  aroused.  This  can  be  obtained 
for  a  very  trifling  sum,  through  Cage  Birds'  veterinary  expert,  for  whose  address 
and  rules  concerning  post  mortem  the  columns  of  the  journal  should  be  consulted. 
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