454 
THE ATTACHMENT OE ANIMALS. 
generally fallacious, are never made till every hope of relief is 
past. 
I can offer nothing in mitigation of this disease. Perhaps, if 
the animal was more particularly observed, and his state investi- 
gated when he appears lower than ordinary, or falls off either in 
condition or feeding, I think obstruction or affections of the liver 
would be very frequently detected. In this case medicine, 
as recommended in the last chapter on the jaundice, might probably 
succeed ; or small doses of calomel, of twenty grains, might be 
rolled up with a little new bread in the form of bolus, and given 
every night ; and an ounce of a strong mercurial ointment might 
be well rubbed over the region of the liver every day, for ten or 
twelve days ; after which, one or two doses of physic might com- 
plete the cure. 
It is only by seeking it in its incipient state that we can hope 
for success, as when it is more advanced a cure is impossible. 
The animal under the above course may be much reduced, which 
would have been equally the case, only more tedious, had medi- 
cine not been employed ; and though the animal be reduced by the 
medicine, his return to condition would be the more probable. It 
is very possible that this disease might, by the above means, be 
frequently prevented ; and if the study of the prevention of dis- 
eases was more extensive, it might perhaps be of more real ser- 
vice to mankind than a cure — or, what is most frequent, a tedious 
alleviation, which is so often observed in the human subject. 
THE ATTACHMENT OF ANIMALS. 
Contributed by C. Lee, Esq. 
I WITNESSED a few weeks ago a strong example of conjugal 
attachment in a rook. We have a rookery here, and one day, 
hearing an awful cawing and noise, I went out, and found on in- 
quiry that the rooks in fighting had struck one of their companions 
and beat him (or her) to the earth. The poor bird was much hurt, 
and, I thought, paralyzed, for when I put him on the ground he 
fell on his side. The by-standers wished to put him out of his 
misery, as they called it, by wringing his neck ; but I determined 
to give him a chance. 
I bribed the gardener’s boy to take care of him and feed him, 
and had him put into a bushel basket with some peas and water. 
In a few days he was rather better, and I put him in the garden; 
and, going one morning to inquire after him, the gardener told me* 
