TUBERCULOUS VISCERAL LESIONS IN PARROTS. 565 



ishing the buccal cavity and interfering with deglutition. Despite 

 their development from a mucous membrane, they present a horny 

 appearance ; in only one case have we seen an ulcerated growth on the 

 palate. Visceral growths may develop simultaneously with, or apart 

 from, cutaneous, articular, or buccal lesions. Some may be detected 

 by the symptoms shown during life ; gastro-enteritis, for instance, 

 produces diarrhoea and sometimes passage of blood ; and pulmonary 

 tuberculosis (which Eberlein regards as the commonest visceral locali- 

 sation) causes continual attacks of coughing. 



In most cases development is extremely slow. The onset being 

 insidious, the disease is often overlooked ; and the large growths seen 

 on examination have often been described as the product of a week or 

 so. 



When it causes no functional disturbance, and is unaccompanied 

 hy visceral lesions, tuberculosis produces little disturbance ; birds 

 may, therefore, continue for a long period to incubate and distribute 

 the bacillus of tuberculosis. 



Sooner or later, however, they become ill, appear dull and thin, cease 

 to talk, and usually die, extremely emaciated, in six months to a year. 

 Sometimes, however, they survive for a much longer period. We have 

 seen parrots, still in very fair condition, two years after the onset of 

 disease. 



In spite of their slow development, the cutaneous lesions are diffi- 

 cult to cure. In Eberlein's and in our own experience, extirpation 

 always failed, the growth recurring in a few weeks. 



It is difficult to exactly estimate the frequency of visceral lesions. 

 Eberlein, who made fifteen post-mortem examinations, gives the follow- 

 ing results : 



No visceral lesions . 

 Tuberculosis of the lungs 



,, of the liver . 



,, of the intestine 



,, of the muscles 



,, of bones and articulations 



,, of the heart 



The same author has several times detected tubercle bacilli in the 

 liver, even when there were no visible granulations. He justly lays 

 stress on the frequency of pulmonary lesions, which, on the other 

 hand, are very rare in the Gallinaceae. 



In most of the cases we have seen the birds were kept alive by 

 their owners ; in only seven were we able to carry out post-mortem 



