SOMATIC AND GENETIC STERILITY 53 



Sire cf No. 623 X 9 different 9 9 



(/L1L2 • JUL.) 



The four birds giving records under 30 laid respectively 26, 

 26, 23, and 19 eggs before March 1. These are undoubtedly 

 to be regarded as somatic fluctuations from zygotes carrying 

 the two factors^ for high winter production (over 30 eggs). The 

 bird which laid 19 eggs was not hatched till May 20. 



Bird No. 316 belonged to a small family of which a part were 

 high and a part low producers. By her own winter production 

 of 55 eggs she had shown herself to be genetically a high pro- 

 ducer. After the first of March she began to make many nest- 

 ing and a few egg records; the last egg record was on April 21; 

 the nesting records continued in normal laying rhythms. 



Autopsy examination showed that there was a cystic tumor 

 attached to the inner wall of the funnel mouth which practi- 

 cally closed the funnel; the oviduct was in laying condition; the 

 ovary had a series of six large yolks and three follicles; there was 

 some free yolk in the peritoneal cavity; the peritoneum was 

 slightly thickened. 



It was evident that this bird was normally a high producer, 

 which had gradually developed a cystic tumor. This had at 

 first hindered and finally prevented the entrance of yolks into the 

 duct. From that time on the bird had gone through the normal 

 laying cycles, ovulating the yolks into the body cavity and 

 absorbing them. 



Bird No. 458 belonged to a family which included both high 

 and low producers. At autopsy the ovary was walled off from 

 the rest of the viscera by a large peritoneal pocket which was 

 attached to the dorsal body wall on all sides of the ovary. The 

 pocket was bulging with the contained ovary and a considerable 



' Li and L2 of our former notation. 



