CHAPTER XLIVON DISEASES OF THE MOUTH
Shouldyour hawk’s[666]mouth become ulcerated, or break out in an eruption so that she is unable to eat,[667]then:—
Remedy: first bind a piece of cotton cloth on your finger,which then introduce into the hawk’s mouth, and rub the eruption till the blood comes. Take sumac and gall-apple, pounded and mixed, and apply them with the finger protected as before. You must insert your finger right up to her throat, for the disease is sure to have spread thus far.Item: treat in the same way, substituting syrup of pomegranates. Then, for a few days, give her, when feeding, the bones and feathers of the neck of the birds she eats, but of a size that she can swallow them, only with difficulty. Should any excrescence remain in her throat, it will be carried down by the bones, and next morning the throat is again scraped and cleansed by the casting.Item: make a twist of cotton cloth, three or four fingers’ breadth in length. Grind barberries with their stones, and mix a little juice of willow leaves, and apply this freely with the cloth, which must be inserted as far as the crop.[668]Then withdraw the cloth, and if God pleases that ailment will be removed.
Swollen Palate.—If your hawk’s palate becomes swollen—and I have seen a hawk’s palate so swollen that she could not close her beak—then:—Treatment: cast your hawk and examine her mouth. If the swelling is red, brand it lengthways, in two places, with a packing needle, so that pus[669]may form and she may be cured. If the swelling is white and hard, it is an indication that it is of long standing, although it may hitherto have escaped your notice. You must make a long slit in the swelling and then remove the congealed white substance from its inside. After that rub the wound with black pepper, that it may not refill with matter. You must further feed the hawk on the hot lights[670]of a hare, and let her eat this flesh with the blood. Once a day wash out her mouth with either sumac juice or pomegranate syrup.
FOOTNOTES:[666]Qūsh: a term applied to any large bird of prey, and especially to the goshawk.[667]This disease is “the frounce i the mouth” of old English falconers. It is said to resemble thrush in children and to proceed from damp. TheBoke of St. Albanstells us that “The frounce commyth when a man fedith his hawke withe porke or cattis flesh iiij days to geyder.” In India this disease, though not uncommon amongst the short-winged hawks, does not seem to attack the long-winged hawks. I have never seen or heard of any falcon being afflicted with it. Bert, however (page 82, Harting’s edition), says that the long-winged hawk is more susceptible to it than the short-winged.[668]Ḥawṣala, “crop.”[669]Jarāḥat, “wound,” in m.c. is “pus, or matter from anopenwound”:māddais pus inside a swelling before it is opened.[670]Jigar-i safīd, “white liver,”i.e., “the lungs, the lights.”
[666]Qūsh: a term applied to any large bird of prey, and especially to the goshawk.
[666]Qūsh: a term applied to any large bird of prey, and especially to the goshawk.
[667]This disease is “the frounce i the mouth” of old English falconers. It is said to resemble thrush in children and to proceed from damp. TheBoke of St. Albanstells us that “The frounce commyth when a man fedith his hawke withe porke or cattis flesh iiij days to geyder.” In India this disease, though not uncommon amongst the short-winged hawks, does not seem to attack the long-winged hawks. I have never seen or heard of any falcon being afflicted with it. Bert, however (page 82, Harting’s edition), says that the long-winged hawk is more susceptible to it than the short-winged.
[667]This disease is “the frounce i the mouth” of old English falconers. It is said to resemble thrush in children and to proceed from damp. TheBoke of St. Albanstells us that “The frounce commyth when a man fedith his hawke withe porke or cattis flesh iiij days to geyder.” In India this disease, though not uncommon amongst the short-winged hawks, does not seem to attack the long-winged hawks. I have never seen or heard of any falcon being afflicted with it. Bert, however (page 82, Harting’s edition), says that the long-winged hawk is more susceptible to it than the short-winged.
[668]Ḥawṣala, “crop.”
[668]Ḥawṣala, “crop.”
[669]Jarāḥat, “wound,” in m.c. is “pus, or matter from anopenwound”:māddais pus inside a swelling before it is opened.
[669]Jarāḥat, “wound,” in m.c. is “pus, or matter from anopenwound”:māddais pus inside a swelling before it is opened.
[670]Jigar-i safīd, “white liver,”i.e., “the lungs, the lights.”
[670]Jigar-i safīd, “white liver,”i.e., “the lungs, the lights.”