sept. 18, 1916 Dwarf Eggs 1019 



was covered with a cap of shell. There was a distinct seam between the 

 base of this cap and the shell which covered the rest of the egg, although 

 they were continuous. Two days after this egg was laid the bird was 

 killed, and an autopsy was performed. There was an egg in the oviduct 

 just entering the isthmus. The lower end was covered with membrane. 

 The upper end was prolonged into a string of albumen 5 or 6 mm. in 

 diameter which extended 5 or 6 cm. up the duct. This egg then was 

 similar to the egg laid two days previously in that it failed to round off 

 normally at the anterior end. There was an abnormality of the oviduct 

 which consisted in the presence of nodules of tissue in the glandular 

 ridges of the funnel region. The nodules gave this lower portion of the 

 funnel a quite abnormal appearance. Nodules were present in the 

 peritoneum as well as in the oviduct. There were two large empty 

 follicles on the ovary and a normal series of enlarging yolks, five of which 

 were above 1 cm. in diameter. The other viscera were also normal. At 

 the time of the autopsy the tumorous nodules in the lower funnel did not 

 prevent the passage of yolks. The long series of nesting records at the 

 time the dwarf egg was produced suggests that for a long period the 

 pathological conditions of the duct may have prevented the passage of a 

 normal yolk. The dwarf egg produced in the midst of this long series 

 of nesting records contained some yolk wrapped in the chalazal fibers and 

 some mixed with the thick albumen. The last normal egg had been laid 

 20 days -before the dwarf egg. It seems therefore certain that the yolk 

 in the dwarf egg was a part of a yolk which was broken either in the 

 process of entering the duct or after it had entered. In the latter case 

 the most of the yolk must have been extruded into the body cavity. 



Another high producer which suffered a permanent disturbance which 

 hindered normal-egg production was case 4. This bird produced 247 

 eggs during her first laying year. She had made occasional nesting 

 records from the start, but the proportion of these to eggs increased 

 markedly after July 1. There were, however, periods when the bird 

 produced a litter of eggs without making nesting records. On February 

 13 of her record year the bird produced a dwarf egg. The egg which 

 preceded this was a normal egg laid 13 days earlier. The dwarf egg 

 contained chalaza-like coagulated albumen fibers, but no trace of yolk 

 or other inclusion. Two days later the bird produced a normal egg. 

 This was the last egg laid. Occasional nesting records followed. On 

 May 5 (70 days after the last egg) the bird died and an autopsy was 

 made. The ovary contained a normal series of enlarging yolks and four 

 ruptured follicles. The body cavity contained a yellow fluid which was 

 apparently a mixture of yolk and serum. A tumorous growth consisting 

 of small solid tissue nodules was scattered all over the mesentery. A 

 few nodules were present on the walls of the intestine. The upper half 

 of the oviduct was badly diseased. The walls were thickened and hard. 

 In places they were covered with large bunches of tumorous tissue. 



