NEUROLYMPHOMATOSIS IN CHICKENS 17 



ted. Bird No. 54 had a high white blood cell count when submitted to the 

 laboratory, but it dropped to nearl\- norma! in five da\s. Birds Nos. 55, 56, 57, 

 and 58 gave normal blood counts. Gross and histological examination of the 

 nervous systems did not re\-eal the cause of parahsis in these birds. Possibh" 

 they represent cases of leukosis in which hyperplasia is absent, as has been de- 

 scribed by Furth (1933). 



Group 6 shows the blood counts of birds from Flock C, which showed symptoms 

 of parahsis and anemia during life and at necrops\' were found to be affected 

 with neuroKniphomatosis and 1\ niphocxtomatosis. The eosinophilic granular 

 leucocyte count was high in all of the fowls except No. 62. The significance of 

 this finding, if of any importance, is not understood at present. The hemoglobin 

 was low in all of the birds. The blood clotted rather slowly in fowls Nos. 62, 

 64, 65, 66, and 67, and the celiac plexus was involved in all of the birds in this 

 group. The ovar\" was tumorous in three cases, the testicles in one, and the 

 kidne>s, liver, and mesenteries in the others. The connection between neuro- 

 hinphomatosis and h'mphoc\tomatosis of the visceral organs was close in every 

 case. Evidences of metastatic infiltration were found. It ma\' be that when 

 the arteries are filled with hmphoblasts these cells lodge in the capillaries of 

 tissues other than the nervous type, forming foci of infection which lead to the 

 development of the so-called lymphocxtoma, which is apparently of the same 

 origin as the neurohmphoma. 



The five birds listed in Group 7 had lymphocytomas of the visceral organs, 

 and the nerv-ous system appeared to be normal on gross and histological examina- 

 tion. All of the birds appeared anemic, and had high white blood counts and low 

 hemoglobin determinations. Differential counts showed that all of them had 

 leukocytosis. The blood of Nos. 88 and 89 was counted twice. Bird No. 88 

 showed no marked changes after 45 days, while the blood of No. 89 indicated a 

 shift from a leukoc\tosis to a hmphocytosis in 10 da\s. 



Four cases of myeloleukosis were included in the hematological studies and the 

 results are given in Group 8. The red blood cells were low and the white blood 

 cells were higher than normal in all four of these birds. The hemoglobin was 

 very low, the clotting time prolonged, and the birds bled profusely as the blood 

 was drawn from the wing vein for the tests. Differential staining brought out 

 many eosinophilic nnelocytes in the blood stream. Also the eosinophilic leuko- 

 cytes with granules were comparatively increased in bird No. 98. It was ob- 

 served in this study that the granules in the eosinophilic leukocytes resembled 

 these in the granular myelocytes, but myelocytosis was not alwa>s accompanied 

 b\- a high granular eosinophilic leukocyte count. 



Three birds in Flock C were found to have erythroleukosis. These birds were 

 anemic, as shown by the blood counts and hemoglobin determinations in Group 9. 

 The clotting of the blood was much delayed in all three cases. The most charac- 

 teristic feature of this disease was the presence of erythroblasts and polychrome 

 erythrocytes in the circulating blood. If the blood had not been examined in 

 these cases the diagnosis would have been missed. The liver and spleen were 

 enlarged in all three cases, and histological sections showed that the capillaries 

 of these organs were distended with immature erythrocytes in various stages of 

 development. Er>throc>tes were rarely found in the bone marrow of the femur, 

 tibia, radius, and ulna of these birds. The most common cell appeared to be a 

 nucleated, basophilic type, undifferentiated from the large monocyte by Roman- 

 osky stains. This cell ma\- have been the precursor of the er>throblasts found 

 in the blood stream. 



