BY DR. OSCAR KATZ. 559 



remained alive for good, whereas therooster was founddead 42 hours 

 after inoculation (having died in less time than that). The inocu- 

 lation, in this instance, had not run off smoothly; instead of apply- 

 ing, as intended, the same quantity as that injected into the hen 

 (in each case under the skin of the right side of the breast), only 

 about half of that penetrated under the skin : the animal may have 

 become too much injured at the place of inoculation, in consequence 

 of the manipulation. At the 2^ost-mortem examination, the seat of 

 inoculation and neighbouring portions were in a state of haemor- 

 rhagic infiltration. The organs presented everywhere indications 

 of general sepsis. The blood, of black crlour, showed in cover-glass 

 preparations a moderate number of bacilli which, although being 

 larger than the chicken-cholera bacteria usually are, resembled 

 them. There were also bacilli of a different form. In order to 

 arrive at a certainty whether the former were true chicken cholera 

 bacteria, and active, I inoculated a medium-sized fresh rabbit with 

 heart-blood of the weka-rooster. The rabbit was found dead 

 20 hours afterwards, it having died between lOf hours and that 

 time. The finding of the examination was : death from typical 

 " chicken-cholera." Notwithstanding this occurrence of virulent 

 bacteria in the heart-blood of the weka-rooster — they were also 

 observed in the spleen — it is very doubtful whether this case is to 

 be placed under the heading of a true infection by those microbes. 

 To judge from the 'post-mortem appearances, I think, the presence 

 of these microbes in the vascular system might be explained with- 

 out adopting the view of an infection, properly speaking. 



That with regard to all the representatives of indigenous birds 

 which, experimented upon, died, the cause of death must be 

 regarded as due to chicken-cholera, as briefly noted in the quoted 

 table by ^^ P.M., Positive ^^ (with the exception of one laughing- 

 jackass, where the post-7}iorte7n was negative, and very likely of 

 the weka) was, 1 think, conclusively demonstrated by the presence, 

 usually in immense numbers, of the typical bacteria in the blood ; 

 by cultivation of such material in suitable media, when they gave 

 rise to typical cultures ; and by the positive results of occasional 



