90 



8PIBOCH-ETOSI8 OF SUDANESE FOWLS 



Probable 

 incroiise of 

 virulence in 

 passage from 

 chick to chick 



used in the inoculation of N (sucli eimilsiun containing, so far as could Ix' told, only 

 bodies), ran a course almost pi-ecisely similar to N. 



(;/) Although I have not performed a sufficient number of consecutive transmission 

 experiments on chicks to be quite certain, I believe that the disease increases in virulence 

 when passed from chick to chick. This is what Blaizot found with his virus. I have 

 not observed the effect of such heightened chick virus on fowls. 



Section (2) may be suitably concluded by an account of the remarkable history of 

 a certain chick which demonstrated several of the points mentioned, both in this and the 

 preceding section. This account also gives details as to motility and the filament 

 phenomenon previously mentioned (jpage 85). 



chick I, a small, clean I'hick, was imieiilated sulieutancoiisly on .)/<irc/i 1, 1909, with the heart's blood of a 

 chirk which had passed, apparently completely, into the "after phase." The absence of free R]iiroi'hii'tes from 

 this latter i-hick was continned by the examination of its liver and spleen, sections of which had been stoined by 

 the IjevaditiJIanouelian method. No free spirochietes could be seen, but bodies were readily demonstrated in 

 the red l)lnoil corpuscles of the blood sinuses. 



Miin-/i 3. Chick exhibited free spirochietes in its peripheral blood in fair n imbers. It would appear, 

 therefore, that these must have been derived in some way from their intra-corpus('ular bodies in its blood. It is 

 scarcely necessary to add that the chick was protected from tick-bite. (Later knowledge would point to free 

 granules being the source of the spirochiptes.) 



March 4. No spirochiPtes found, but bodies had .ippean^d in considerable n\imbers. 



March 6. Uodies more numertius. No fpiroehiptes. 



March 7. Bodies still increasins; in number. Some large forms noted. 



March 8. Condition much the same. Jlultiple infection of corpuscles common. Hird shows no marked 

 signs of illness, but appears slightly emaciated. 



March 9. An apparent decrease in the number of bodies which arc, for the most part, of small size. The 

 same note is applicable to the appearance presented on March 10. 



March 11. A further diminution in the number of bodies was noted. No furthi:r examination could be 

 conducted until — 



March 17, when it was found that the free spirnchaics hati rcciirrri/ in the liluoil. There was a heavy infection, 

 and bodies in small n\inibers were found to be still present. In one instance a spirochiete was found attached by 

 one end to one of the spherical intra-corpuscular forms. Free spirochietes were also oliserved, arranged as though 

 radiating from a common centre, a tiny uuiss or ball of chromatin, and so-called protoplasmif^ balls, which may lie 

 likened to the root nodes of certain plants, were observed on several of the parasites. The bird was carefully 

 examined for lice and ticks, liut none were found on it. The blood was pale, watery, and coagulated with 

 great rajjidity. 



K.r(iiiiiiialiiin (if Frish FiliK.i — Many a<'tive spirochietes. The number of bodies distinctly decreased from 

 that noted in former preparations of fresh blood. 



A red corpuscle observed with two spherical bodies in it, one slightly larger than the other. Both bodies 

 were motile, and moved round the corpuscle between its nui'leus and its periphery, the movement being, as a rule, 

 from left to right. The waving filament, already mentioned, was seen projecting from the ciuitre of the larger 

 iKxiy and lashing to and fro. My assistant, Captain Archibald, and other workers in the lalniratories contirmed 

 this observation. The bodies were seen to pass each other, and om^ apparently disappeared for a time below the 

 other. The <'orpuscle at this stage underwent change in shape owing to pressure exerted by a neighbouring 

 eosinophile leucocyte, but the bodies remained unaffected for a period of two hours, during which time they were 

 the obje<:ts of continned ob.serv.atiou. This was then intermitted, and. when last .seen, the bodies were motionless, 

 lying side by side, their adjacent 'rims" llattened as though they were pressing or being jircssed against each 

 other. On the examination of their host corpuscle being renewed two hours later, the bodies could not be 

 recognised, all that was visible being a roughened, granular appearance of the spougiti))lasm of the corpuscle at 

 the point where the bodies had last been seen. In stained preparations the free spirocluetes tended to form loops 

 and rings. 



March 18. The condition of motile bodies observed in several corpuscles. One large body showed the 

 waving " lilament" at its centre remarkably well. In one corpuscle two motile bodies were seen to undergo what 

 looked exceedingly like a process of fusion. At my request Captain Archibald watched one of the large motile 

 bodies continuously for a period of three hours. He noticed a granule or grannies apiiarently attached to the 

 waving filament which the body presented. The liody itself was very actively motile, and. besides movement of 

 translation, kept dancing about between the cell envelope and nucleus. It gradually U^'ame indistinct, and the 

 red corjmscle became jiale in colour. Finally the body could no longer be detected, but a distinct gap was seen in 

 the corpuscular envelope at the spot opposite which the l>ody had been situated. I looked at the i)re|)aration 

 from time to time and c-onfirmed these findings. The fate of the grannie and filament remained unknown; 

 they disap|)eared along with the body. No definite extrusion of the body or of any granules from the corpuscle 

 could l)e oljserved. 



A stained film led one to think that the nnmlier of bodies generally had certainly decreased. The chii-k 

 remained in very fair health, though somewhat thin ; it took food readily. 



March 19 and 20. The aliove notes a])ply, though, on the latter date, no marki'd motility w.as observed in 

 any of the biKlies. The blood coagulated with ast^onishing rapidity, but there was no sign of ai-iite illness. 

 Temj>crature at mid-day lO."! P, 



March 21. Some interesting ap))oar8nces in the fresh IiUhhI. Spirocluptes fewer. Bodies ap)M»rently 

 increased in number. Some corpuscles showed four or even five bodies of different sizes. A <'ori)U8cle was 



