568 HORSE, SWINE AND POULTRY DISEASES 



press one as being weak and lacking in vitality. ^ This condition may 

 persist indefinitely, or the bird may slowly regain vigor and vitality 

 and finally make fairly satisfactory development. The usual method 

 of autopsy has been followed here, the bird being placed on its back 

 on a board, the outstretched wings and the legs tacked in position, 

 the skin covering the breast and abdomen removed and the internal 

 organs exposed to view by the removal of the entire breast bone. In 

 typical cases the following conditions are found: Crop, empty or 

 partially filled with slimy fluid or with food ; lungs, apparently nor- 

 mal (tubercles not observed) ; liver, pale, with streaks and patches of 

 red. The congested areas are usually large in size. Occasionally 

 epidemics will be met with in which the liver is more or less con- 

 gested throughout. In such cases the portion of the stomach lying 

 in contact with the liver is inflamed; kidney and spleen, appar- 

 ently normal; intestines, pale, and for the greater part empty. A 

 small amount of dark grayish or brownish matter frequently present ; 

 ceca, with few exceptions but partly filled with a grayish soft ma- 

 terial. Only occasionally cheesy or firm contents ; unabsorbed yolk, 

 usually present, varying in size from a pea to a full-sized yolk. 

 The color may vary from yellow to brownish green or nearly black. 

 In consistency there is also much variation. It may appear per- 

 fectly normal, distinctly gelatinous, or watery. Frequently it looks 

 like custard and again it is more or less dry and firm. Unless the 

 chick has been dead for some time the yolk is not putrid, but merely 

 stale. The chick as a whole appears more or less anaemic and ema- 

 ciated. The muscles of the wings, breast and legs may be almost 

 completely wasted away. 



Additional Points of Practical Interest. There are several other 

 matters which should be brought to the attention of practical poul- 

 trymen at this time, even though there is not sufficient evidence to 

 warrant one in making positive statements regarding them. A num- 

 ber of things have come up which are strongly suggestive, and which 

 are regarded as being of such importance as to deserve further and 

 thorough investigation. The trap nest records of individual hens, 

 when studied in connection with the results of egg examinations, 

 seem to indicate that infected hens are comparatively poor layers. 

 This is especially true of those hens which are in their second and 

 subsequent laying years. Apparently such hens lay regularly only 

 in the spring and summer, the natural breeding season. 



In order to secure further practical information on this point, 

 an extended trip was made among poultrymen who make it a prac- 

 tice to raise winter chicks. In a very few cases there seemed to be 

 evidence of white diarrhea infection, but the large majority of the 

 men interviewed agreed that the chicks which are hatched in late 

 fall, winter or early spring, are comparatively free from this disease. 

 Should these early observations be fully confirmed, the selection of 

 breeding stock which is comparatively free from infection would be 

 greatly simplified. 



The question has frequently been asked as to whether infection 

 may spread from one hen to another, through food which has become 



