192 EXPERIMENT STATION RECOED. 



proteid nature. The organism not onl}" produces a disease of the skin 

 and hair in the horse, but may be transmitted to dogs and guinea pigs. 

 It was not observed on man and no experiments were conducted to 

 determine the possibility of transmitting it to man. 



T. minimuiH has a delicate, branched m3'celium, with ver}' small 

 spores. The vegetative portions are inclosed by an external secretion 

 of a proteid substance, which constitutes a source of reserve nutriment 

 for the fungus. The culture media which are best adapted for grow- 

 ing this organism are such as contain albuminoid substances. The 

 organism is believed to live in 2 conditions — as a parasite in the skin 

 of the horse and dog, and in a vegetative condition during cold weather 

 in the soil or in filth. 



Notes on the mortality of incubator chicks, (i. W. Field et al. 

 {Bhodt Mand Sta. Bui. 61^ })p. Ji9-60). — One of the most serious 

 sources of loss in poultry raising is the death of incubator chicks, and 

 the experiment station undertook an investigation to determine the pro- 

 portion of chicks that died and the causes of death. 



In the summer of 1899, S'i'd dead chickens from incubators were exam- 

 ined. Fewer males died than females, the proportion being 387 to 139. 

 Post-mortem examinations indicated that the diseases of inculjator 

 chickens vasij be classified under 1 heads: Diseases due to heredity or 

 environment, to mechanical causes, to imperfect sanitation, and to 

 improperly balanced ration. 



Alternate periods of heat and cold during incubation bring about a 

 considerable percentage of abnormalities, 33 per cent of the chickens 

 examined indicating a trouble of this origin. Diseases due to heredity 

 may be the result of congenital weakness resulting in special suscepti- 

 bility to sickness or in malformations. Tuberculosis among chickens 

 was in several cases contracted after hatching through the infected 

 brooder. Another sort of constitutional weakness is a failure to absorb 

 the 3'olk at the proper time. Poultry raisers frequently complain of 

 "bowel trouble" as an important cause of death among incubator 

 chickens, and this trouble was found to ])e caused by the nonabsorption 

 of the yolk, which happened in a hirge proportion of the chicks which 

 died before hatching, and in 13.3 per cent of the hatched chicks abnor- 

 malities of the yolk sac were noticed. 



Many deaths occurred from overcrowding or trampling and suffoca- 

 tion in the brooders. The fatalities due to imperfect sanitation are 

 more important. Tuberculosis, according to the observations of the 

 authors, was found in 15.1 per cent of the dead chicks, tubercles being 

 found in the lungs of 113 cases, on the walls of the heart in 5 cases, on 

 the walls of the gizzard in 5 cases, and on the intestine in 1 case. It 

 was found that removing the "hovers" and setting them out of doors 

 in full sunlight reduced the presence of tuberculosis to a considerable 

 extent. The lungs were found to be congested in 213 cases or 29.1 

 per cent. The greatest number of deaths resulted from improper feed- 



