INFECTIOUS ENTEROHEPATITIS IN TURKEYS 549 



Werner confirmed Viereck's and Hartmann's findings. In one case 

 he observed an ameba which differed from Entamoeba tetragena and 

 also differed somewhat from, but closely resembled, Entamoeba 

 hystolytica. He attempted to cultivate the pathogenic ameba, but 

 failed. He was able to get amebse to grow, but always found that 

 they were the non-pathogenic forms, and considers them to have been 

 present with the pathogenic amebse in the material which he used 

 in making his cultures. He is of the opinion that pathogenic ameba? 

 have so far not been cultivated, and that, therefore, all studies of 

 amebse from culture have been of non-pathogenic amebae. 



Noc studied the amebse from the drinking water in Saigon, also 

 the amebse from the stools of cases of dysentery and from the pus 

 of liver abscesses originating in Saigon. He was able to cultivate 

 the amebse from these sources, and found that he had the same 

 organism in the drinking water, the stools of cases of dysentery, the 

 dysenteric ulcers of the intestines, and the pus of liver abscesses. 

 This ameba closely resembled Entamceba hystolytica, but differed 

 from it in being rich in nuclear chroma tin and in forming large 

 polymorphous cysts. It also differed from Entamoeba tetragena and 

 Entamoeba coli. 



Infectious Enterohepatitis in Turkeys. Enterohepatitis in turkeys 

 is an infectious disease apparently due to a pathogenic protozoon 

 called Amoeba meleagridis by Theobald Smith, its discoverer. Gush- 

 man, of Rhode Island, in 1893, noticed a peculiar disease among 

 turkeys which has since been found in various other, particularly 

 Eastern, States. The affection is characterized by diarrhea and 

 generally progressive emaciation, and a dark discolorization of the 

 comb, wattles, and the skin of the head, from which the common name 

 black-head of turkeys is derived. The disease frequently attacks 

 young birds, and it may take a more acute or a -markedly chronic 

 course. The most important pathologic changes are the following: 

 The ceca of the birds show a thickening of the wall and a superficial 

 and even deep destruction of the mucosa and submucosa. The 

 thickening may be uniform, or it may be present in circumscribed 

 places only. The changes are generally most marked near the blind 

 ends of the intestinal pouches; sometimes the cecum only is diseased 

 while the other part is not changed. In the early stages the adenoid 

 tissue between the pouches and in the submucosa becomes much in- 

 creased. With the extension of the disease much of the mucous mem- 

 brane may become destroyed by ulcerative and desquamative processes, 

 and fibrinous material is deposited on the denuded intestinal surface 

 of the affected intestines. In the majority of cases secondary lesions 

 are found in the liver, which, according to the description of Smith and 

 Moore, is enlarged to perhaps twice its normal size. On the surface 

 are seen roundish discolored spots, sharply differentiated from the rest 

 of the tissue. They vary from 3 to 15 mm. in diameter, and may be 

 lemon-yellow, neutral-gray, ochre-yellow, or of a mottled brownish 



