CHAPTER XXII 



THE MOLD THAT INJURES POULTRY 



For some time we have fought shy of feeding any kind of food 

 that was affected with mold; and have been on the lookout for 

 information concerning it. That it causes bowel trouble, nearly every 

 one who handles chickens will admit, but we find among other things, 

 it is accredited with many other diseases, that are usually laid to 

 other causes. 



Dr. Gushing was one of the first writers to discover that moldy 

 straw was a frequent cause of white diarrhoea in chicks. He told how 

 moldy straw was found in the crops of the chicks, and how the mold 

 spread through the system and developed characteristic nodules in 

 certain organs. 



And now conies another man in Trinidad that 'has established the 

 fact that this mold has been the cause of an epidemic in "chicken pox." 

 This, he claims, is from feeding moldy grain. 



A study of this mold with the scientific name of Aspergillus 

 Fumigatus, proves it to be the same mold that appears on bread. 

 Dr. Charles F. Briscoe, the instructor in Bacteriology at the Univer- 

 sity of Illinois, kindly gave this information about the mold in ques- 

 tion: "Origin white bread; in the air passages and lungs of birds; 

 also in man. Color a greenish or bluish gray growth. Fruit 

 Organs The club-shaped ends of the fruit hyphae .are covered with 

 sterigmae from which extend rows of spores that are usually colorless. 

 The growth is best on bread and is rapid. Pathegenesis Intravenous 

 injection of millions of spores in rabbits and dogs produced death 

 in a few days. Mycelia Were found in the kidneys, heart and other 

 muscles and occasionally in the liver. Infection of doves and other 

 birds 'by inhalation of the spores produced a pneumonic or pseudo- 

 tuberculous disease. Natural affections of this kind are frequently 

 observed among 'birds. Occasionally they are met with in cattle 

 and horses, and at times in man." 



In mycoses- of man, the lungs, ears, eyes and nose are subject 

 to invasion. 



In 1897 Renon found that this mold developed on eggs during 

 incubation, and that it may contaminate the embryos contained 

 therein. 



The most important treatise on this subject is contained in Bulle- 

 tin No. 58 of the United States Bureau of Animal Industry, Pul- 



