374 DISEASE IN WILD MAMMALS AND BIRDS 
consciousness. No cases of focal or Jaoksonian spasms 
are recorded although we shall cite two instances of 
tuberculoma reasonably near the motor area in the 
cerebrum. The exact cause of many cases cannot be set 
down since intracranial disease does not often exist. 
Intoxication from chemical products of disturbed 
digestion or from worms themselves is the usual expla- 
nation of spasms associated with intestinal parasitism; 
if this be true, intoxication in the absence of demon- 
strable parasites may also be the cause in certain cases 
of enteritis. However we have seen fits when enteritis, 
parasites and renal disease were not found. If these 
were true epilepsy, they are instances of perhaps the 
rarest disease of animals, which I do not presume 
to diagnose. 
Convulsive seizures in herbivorous animals are ex- 
ceedingly rare although I have seen clonic movements 
of a spasmodic character in antelopes and deer shortly 
before death from gastroenteritis. Ataxia and incoordi- 
nation are much more common. Birds, notably parrots 
and soft-billed insectivorous varieties, are not uncom- 
monly afflicted with fits but as they are rarely observed 
except by the keeper the exact nature is difficult to 
describe. Those seen by the writer have been of 
two kinds. 
The first and more common consists of falling from 
the perch in a dazed and stiff condition, with dilated fixed 
eyes, stiffened and spread-out legs and mngs. Recovery 
follows shortly and the bird resumes its perch either in 
excitement, or slowly and uncertainly, perhaps to have 
another attack in a few minutes. These cases, in the 
few instances in which they could be followed, were due 
to faulty feeding and enteritis and showed either nothing 
or a mild congestion of the brain. The other variety of 
fit is epileptiform, a rapidly developing clonic spasm of 
all parts of the body with a tendency to opisthotonos. In 
one case of this character, a parrot, no lesions were found 
