6oo DUCK SHOOTING. 



A dissection of the two birds mentioned revealed 

 the disease from which the fowl suffers and its cause. 



All the organs were found in a healthy condition 

 until the gizzard was reached. In the case of the goose, 

 the crop and upper gizzard were filled with fresh 

 grass, on which the processes of digestion had not be- 

 gun. The posterior part of the gizzard contained per- 

 haps two ounces of fine sand, mingled with coarser 

 gravel. Distributed through this sand was a small 

 quantity — ^perhaps one-quarter of an ounce — of par- 

 ticles of lead, evidently shot. Some of these particles 

 were large and round, others were flattened, others 

 still were no larger than No. lo or No. 12 shot, and 

 were not round, but oval or bean-shaped. The sur- 

 faces of all were dull, and, on close examination, were 

 seen to be finely pitted by attrition against the harder 

 sand and gravel which grinds up the bird's food. The 

 gristly lining of the gizzard of this goose was greenish 

 in color, and in character entirely different from the 

 same membrane in a healthy bird. Its inner membrane 

 was soft and decayed, or corroded, easily to be pulled 

 to pieces or rubbed off with the finger, and in some 

 places had degenerated into a soft, jelly-like mass of 

 yellowish color. The thicker tough lining of the giz- 

 zard was also corroded and could be picked away in 

 small pieces, while in a healthy bird it would have 

 stripped away in a single piece from the white mem- 

 brane upon which it lies. This white membrane 

 showed here and there pinkish or purplish spots, indi- 

 cating inflammation. The right lobe of the liver was 



