PHEASANTS IN COVERT AND AVIARY 



relation to this and other apparently trifling details that so 

 commonly leads to the rapid spread of enteric and yet the 

 rearer remain quite at sea as to the increase of the trouble 

 amongst his birds. The best plan is to look upon the 

 malady as one that can be transmitted through all agencies, 

 living or dead, that may have been brought into touch with 

 the germ of the disease. 



The author does not believe that infectious enteric is 

 capable of aerial transmission, in other words that the 

 virus or poison is of a '"volatile" nature, but rather of 

 an opposite nature, viz., ''fixed" necessitating transference 

 through channels other than atmospherical. 



Klein appears to have been the first scientific investigator 

 in connection with this complaint, the disease appearing in 

 a poultry yard at Orpington (Kent) during the year 1888. 

 The earliest indications of the approach of this trouble are 

 those afforded by the general appearance of the birds, such 

 as moping about, separation from the other birds, drooping 

 of the wings, followed by severe diarrhoea. In the less 

 acute cases scouring is a constant feature of this malady, 

 which, as previously stated, materially influences the dis- 

 semination of the trouble. Drowsiness is usually very 

 marked. This, along with wandering from the coops, 

 scouring, and evidence of internal pain, plus its infectious 

 nature, must be accepted as the best (though not positive) 

 evidence one can have of this affection. The after-death 

 appearances — as revealed by the naked eye — are liable to 

 variability, and greatly depend, in the author's opinion, 

 upon the duration of the complaint being proportionate 

 to its severity or otherwise. Sometimes there is distinct 

 evidence of pneumonia either in one or both lungs, but 

 the most significant changes are in connection with the 

 gall bladder, the liver, and the intestines. The first-named 



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