FOOTNOTES:
[698] Tab-i lāzim.
[699] “White pepper” is prepared by divesting the ripe berry of its skin by maceration in water, after which it is rubbed and finally bleached in the sun. It is occasionally bleached still further by means of chlorine. It is twice as expensive as black pepper, but is in little demand.—Dict. Econ. Prod., Vol. VI, Pt. 1, p. 261.
[700] Isfarza or ispag͟hūl; said to be the seed of the pea-wort.
[701] Vide note [703], p. 165.
[702] K͟hiyār-i chambar, a long variety of cucumber: k͟hiyār-i ābī, a small variety.
[703] A nuk͟hūd is the twenty-fourth part of a mis̤qāl and a mis̤qāl is equal to about three grains. Camphor has a peculiar effect on hawks, producing intoxication, and later convulsions, according to the dose and the condition of the hawk. Two grains of fresh, strong camphor, given to a saker in fair condition and on an empty stomach, will produce intoxication. A larger dose will generally cause convulsions and possibly death.
CHAPTER LI
ON CANKER OF THE FEATHERS[704]
This disease, which is called qārishqa,[704] is commoner in Persia than elsewhere. From what I have observed, it arises from taking a moulting hawk out of the mew too soon, that is, while some of her feathers are still in blood. The hawk bates, injuring a young quill, and the blood dries up and putrifies; then the flesh near the root of the quill gets infected, and soon a tiny kind of maggot, similar to the “disease of parasites”[705] that sometimes infests man, is produced, and it eats away the root. The following case, I think, corroborates my opinion:—
I once had a very fine eyess-goshawk, brought to me from an eyrie in Mazenderan, just about a month before Autumn. I noticed that one of the two centre tail-feathers, called the qāpāq feathers, was broken close to the flesh, too close to admit of “imping.” I thought that as it was a young bird I might pull out the feather without fear, and that it would speedily grow again.[706] Accordingly with the utmost care I neatly removed the stump[707] with pincers. On examining it, I found some hundreds of minute insects the size of a poppy seed, wriggling about inside the quill. I examined them under a magnifying glass; they looked just like lice,[708] but were broader. It struck me that these were the cause of canker in quill feathers. I closed the end of the quill and circulated it for inspection amongst all my sporting friends and acquaintances. These parasites, after attacking and eating one quill, work their way under the flesh to the next, and so on. They have the same passion for feathers that white-ants[709] have for wood. If you examine carefully, with a glass, a feather that has broken off from a hawk afflicted with this disease, you will find that it has a dead appearance; it has not the water of life in it: the marks of erosion will also be apparent. These insects are the cause of feather-rot, and naught else—but God knows best.
Treatment: first give her three doses of manna on alternate days, but give her no more manna than the quantity mentioned previously. Then cast her, and pull out the small feathers from round the diseased spot. If the flesh is black and swollen, it is a sign that the injury arises from a blow. Treatment: apply a leech to the injured spot and let it suck out the impure blood. Sprinkle salt on the wound, or apply ice to staunch the bleeding. Item: rub the injured spot with powdered stone or brick till the blood is near flowing; then apply the fouling of a tobacco-pipe. After this keep her loose in a room. Do this twice.
If, however, the spot be red, the disease is the second or parasitic kind. The treatment in both cases is the same, with a difference. Treatment: prick the red spot with a needle and induce a flow of blood. Mix vinegar and ox-gall, and paint it on the affected spot. Item: take carbonate of soda,[710] blue-stone, sal-ammoniac, “yellow aloes,”[711] and long pepper,[712] a grain[713] of each, and three black raisins: pound and mix. Prick the injured spot with a needle, and wash with strong vinegar. Then apply the powder and she will recover. This is the practice of the ancient falconers. Item: when the feather falls out, wait till a new one takes its place;[714] then before the stage has arrived when it will fall out, pluck it out by force and do this three times. The fourth time let the feather reach maturity. This, too, is a receipt of the ancient falconers.