362 THE BEGINNER IN POULTRY 



which cleverness and skill can strike almost unerringly. 

 The correct position for the knife, as well as the point 

 of cutting, must be known. At the end of the breastbone 

 is a weak point for cross-sectioning. A little below the 

 middle of the back is a vital point where division is easy, 

 by a backward pull of each end, or even of the lower 

 end if a fork is struck in it strongly. To detach the 

 collar bone is perhaps the most difficult part of the 

 operation, but a cut at just the right angle will do it. 

 The neck joints are twisted off, or cut between the 

 vertebrae, after the skin and flesh have had a circular, 

 clean cut. A sharp, narrow, rather short, pointed kitchen 

 knife does good work. 



It is rather necessary f<5r any grower who would be 

 really independent, to learn how to do the cutting at the 

 vent that will give access to the abdominal cavity con- 

 tents. Often, one look at the interior of the cavity will 

 solve problems which have vexed the soul of the poultry- 

 man for weeks or months. 



Inflammations, ovarian difficulties, tumors, worms, 

 caecal affections, fistulas ; in fact, nearly all but head 

 and throat troubles, will be diagnosed by a good look at 

 the abdominal contents. The intestines and the egg 

 organs are packed so closely together that difficulty with 

 one may soon mean difficulty with the other. And, 

 when man is continually stimulating the egg organs to 

 added activity, .it must be expected that breakdowns 

 from overstrain and overwork will occur. The egg 

 duct may be torn ; eggs may escape into the abdomen ; 

 cysts will form around foreign bodies, and these will 

 crowd and possibly cause stoppage of the waste tract. 

 The chief reason for the practical dissection recommended 



