_Treatment._ Lance the abscess when “ripe” with a clean, sharp knife, cutting low so that the sore may drain readily. Squeeze out the pus; wash with 1% carbolic acid or creolin and dress with creolin and sweet oil (half and half) until healed. The most common abscess is that which forms on the pad of the foot and develops into bumblefoot. ANÆMIA, OR GOING LIGHT _A condition that should incite the poultryman to investigate the cause_ _Symptoms._ Birds lose weight, or ”go light,” without any apparent reason. _Cause._ A general lack of thriftiness in the flock may be due to insufficient or poor food, to lack of exercise, or to bad ventilation of houses; lice or mites may be infesting the birds. On the other hand, birds may gradually lose weight as the result of some such disease as tuberculosis (see page 90}, aspergillosis (see page 29), or worms (see page 94). _Treatment._ Make any changes in feeding or management that may appear desirable. Search at night for mites or lice on the birds; in the daytime examine the straw in nest boxes, the roosts, and the cracks and crevices of the woodwork for parasites. Much time may often be saved in discovering what is wrong with the flock by killing one or more of the affected birds and making a post-mortem examination to discover if a specific disease is the cause. APOPLEXY _Not a common trouble_ _Symptoms._ Staggering gait and bewildered appearance; bird generally drops dead suddenly. _Cause._ Attributed to high feeding or over-laying. _Treatment._ There is usually no time for treatment, but if the attack is mild, put the bird in a dark place and give no food for a few hours; give a dose of Epsom salts and add green food to diet. Bleeding from under a wing is sometimes tried. _Post-mortem examination_ shows clotted blood on the brain, the other organs being normal. The name vertigo is applied to congestion of the brain as distinct from apoplexy due to hemorrhage of the brain. The fowl has fits. It is difficult to distinguish this disease from epilepsy (see page 55). The cause is little understood. ASPERGILLOSIS _A disease that exists more commonly than is usually suspected, and is the cause of the death of large numbers of young chickens_ _Symptoms._ Fowls gradually lose weight, mope, and die without any pronounced ailment except difficulty in breathing. In adults the disease may be mistaken for tuberculosis and in chickens for white diarrhea. Aspergillosis of chickens is dealt with under brooder pneumonia. Post-mortem symptoms are whitish or yellowish growths on the windpipe, that can only be definitely diagnosed under the microscope. [Illustration: FIG. 7.—HEAD SHOWING BRAIN EXPOSED]