VETERINARY MEDICINE. 387 



fined mostly to chickens, although other fowls may contract the disease. The 

 post-mortem appearances of diseased fowls are described, and a table is given 

 showing the distribution of lesions in 37 cases examined during the last 5 

 years. ExaminatlDiis made by the author have shown the tubercle bacillus to 

 be present in the droppings of affected fowls, and this he considers as one of the 

 most important sources of infection. The quickest and most effective method of 

 eradicMtiug the disease is that of destroying all fowls and thoroughly disinfect- 

 ing the premises. 



White diarrhea of chicks. Roup of fowls, P. B. Hadley (Centbl. Bakt. 

 [efc], 1. Abt., Orig., 50 (1D09), Xo. ;i, iip. 3.'iS-353; Science, n. sci:, 29 (1909), 

 No. 756, pp. 1006-lOOS) .—This paper is based upon investigations conducted 

 at the Rhode Island Station. The macroscopical pathological appearances in 

 white diarrhea as observed in 427 autopsies are here s\nnmarized, and an 

 account is given of the microscopical examinations made of smears riud sections. 



" The epithelium lining the duodenum, small intestines, large intestine and 

 ceca was usually denuded, to a greater or less extent. In and among the 

 epithelial and mucus cells were many coccidia in the schizout or macrogamete- 

 stage. The thickening of the walls of ceca or intestines was apparently due- 

 both to the number of parasites, and to the proliferation of small, granular 

 cells. The necrotic areas of the liver contained coccidia both in and out of 

 the large liver cells. Where the coccidia were present in greatest numbers, the- 

 normal liver tissue was largely broken down and the parasites lay free in the 

 connective tissue matrix. The nodules from the lungs revealed, upon section, 

 areas of marked congestion and occasional necrosis. The capillaries were 

 goi'ged with blood cells, and small hemorrhages were common; the pulmonary 

 alveoli were surrounded by numei-ous proliferated granular cells. The epithe- 

 lium of the smallest branches of the bronchi and infundibula was often brokert 

 down, and in both cubical and ciliated cells were found inclusions which pos- 

 sessed the appearance of coccidia. The parasitic bodies described above were, 

 for the most part, the schizont stage of Coccidium cuniculi, which is also the 

 cjiusative agent of ' blackhead ' of turkeys, and of at least some of the cases of 

 so-called ' roup.' The schizont stage of this organism is probably identical with 

 the Amoeba meleagridis described by Smith (1895) [E. S. R.. 7, p. 524] as the 

 causative agent of ' blackhead ' in turkeys. In the present epidemic other 

 stages of the coccidium were also found, especially the merozoites and the 

 macrogametes. No cysts were found in chicks under one month old. . . . 



" Experiments in transmitting the disease by feeding the schizogonous stage 

 of the coccidium, while not completed, indicate that the disease may be per- 

 petuated in a flock without infection by means of the permanent cyst stage of 

 the coccidium. . . . 



" In reality, white diarrhea is not a disease, but a symptom. It is merely 

 the result of a deranged metabolism, which may be caused by several factors 

 working together or separately. One of these is coccidiosis; another may be 

 the septicemia of Rettger, but it is i)robable that the disease of ' white diarrhea ' 

 as it is known to most poultrymen is primarily a form of coccidiosis. . . . 



" These results show that Bacteria nepticcmiw (/uUinarum has a high patho- 

 genicity for young chicks, especially when associated with cases of coccidiosiK 

 or white diarrhea, but that it is not the only pathogenic organism accompanying 

 coccidiosis." 



The details are presented of examinations made of »i fowls which died with 

 the symptoms of roup. "In the cases reported no liacteriological examinations; 

 were made. It was apparent, however, that the factor of coccidiosis of the 



5117— No. 4—09 7 



