152 
THE POULTRY BOOK, 
liollow in tlieir centre, or, wliat is a still more fatal disqualification for exliibition, 
the combs lop over, or fall to one side or other : this should be most especially 
avoided in selecting for the purposes of competition. Humpbacked Hamburghs are 
also by no means uncommon ; but whether for exhibition or for brood stock, they 
should never be retained, as such malformations are not only inadmissible for 
premiums, but also because this failing ofttimes proves hereditary for very many 
generations. The Hamburghs are extremely ornamental varieties of poultry, and 
form very striking additions when standing in groups near any homestead ; this, 
combined with their extraordinary production of eggs, the excellent quality of the 
flesh, together with the very small amount of general care they entail, causes them 
to be almost universal favourites. They are, however, somewhat troublesome and 
untiring pests when they happen to indulge in encroachments upon garden grounds, 
scarcely any natural fence being impervious to them ; and even continuous eject- 
ments will not frustrate their determination to persist in such encroachments. 
Still, all matters duly considered as to production and maintenance, I myself know 
no kind of fowls that will pay better than they do.” 
There is one drawback to the value of both Gold and Silver Pencilled 
Hamburghs, and that, it must be acknowledged, is a serious one. If hatched 
in the early spring of the year, say before May, they are difficult to rear, being 
very delicate during chickenhood, and suffering severely in cold wet weather; 
and the old birds are perhaps more subject to roup, if kept in damp, cold, 
unhealthy situations, than any variety of fowl, except, perhaps. Black Polish. 
Dryness in the poultry-yard, a sheltered run and good feeding, are the best 
preventives of this scourge of the poultry breeder. For the treatment, when it 
has unfortunately gained entrance into the stock, we must refer to the general 
chapter treating on Poultry Diseases. 
But it cannot be too strongly impressed on all poultry keepers that roup always 
commences with cold in the head ; a discharge takes place from the nostrils, the 
fowl affected shakes its head and throws off the discharge as long as it remains of 
a watery character ; when it becomes more glutinous and adhesive, the bird wipes 
it off on the feathers at the base of the wing, which in time become matted with 
the diseased secretion ; in a still more advanced stage the external openings of tha 
nostrils close, and the fowl breathes with difficulty, each expiration being ac- 
companied with a distension of the skin of the throat and under jaw. As the 
secretion can no longer be got rid of through the nostrils, it is forced by the pressure 
of the air, expired in breathing, through the lachrymal duct into the eye, and 
causes the frothy appearance of that organ unfortunately too well known to most 
poultry keepers. As the disease progresses the discharge accumulates in the nasal 
cavities, the face consequently swells, the bird becomes blind, and the diseased 
secretion particularly offensive. 
In the earlier stages, when roup is merely a simple cold, the disease can be cured 
by warm housing, and stimulating strengthening food, — peppered potatoes, 
cayenne, a little bread sopped in ale, etc. ; but in the later stages it is one of the 
