16 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 148. 



of a positive nature. This is interesting, and it will require further study 

 with this blood and work in connection with the autopsies of such birds 

 to determine if the testicles of such individuals harbor the organism. 

 The reactions with these birds were always very slight and questionable, 

 and hardly comparable with the clearcut reactions exhibited when the 

 blood serum from infected hens was used. 



Comparison of Results of Macroscopic Agglutination Tests with 



Egg Analysis. 

 From the egg record table it can be seen that Bacterium pullorum was 

 isolated 32 times from 619 eggs, and the individuals harboring such or- 

 ganisms, determined by eggs laid in Julj% were hen No. 10 on the 30th; 

 hen No. 18 on the 26th; hen No. 6 on the 16th, 17th and 19th; hen No. 5 

 on the 30th; hen No. 2 on the 26th and 30th; hen No. 52 on the 21st and 

 23d; hen No. 13 on the 22d and 26th; hen No. 792 on the 23d, 25th and 30th; 

 hen No. 714 on the 27th; and in August, besides these hens, hen No. 8 

 laid an egg containing Bacterium pullorum on the 18th; hen No. 1 on the 

 15th; hen No. 2096 on the 12th; hen No. 7 on the 4th and 13th; and in 

 September, hen No. 48 on the 6th; hen No. 464 on the 13th and the 16th. 

 Hen No. 452 died before an egg was laid which contained the organism, 

 but at autopsy, when ova from this individual were crushed and inoculated 

 into sterile bouillon and put in incubator at 38° C, the organism was de- 

 tected later on the agar streaks. Hen No. 267 had previously been found 

 to be infected by an egg test. Serum from all these hens caused agglu- 

 tination of Bacterium pullorum test fluids, the results of three technicians 

 being in agreement. The organism was not isolated from the ovarian tis- 

 sue of hen Nos. 53 or 61, although both these hen's blood serum caused 

 very active agglutination. This may suggest that the active infection 

 had passed, and the agglutination test showed the results of the past 

 active infection. On the other hand, hens Nos. 315, 49, 60, 22, 77, 4, 35, 

 618, 312, 46 and 34 never exhibited the organism in their eggs, nor did 

 blood serum from these individuals cause agglutination of Bact. pullorum. 



Post-mortem Findings of Some Reactors and Non-reactors. 

 After Oct. 1, 1913, hens Nos. 10, 5, 52, 1, 792, 464, 6 and 13, as reactors, 

 were killed and the ovaries examined for the presence of Bacterium pul- 

 lorum. All the reactors were not killed because it was desired to make 

 further studies with the agglutinins. At the present time hens containing 

 active agglutinative sera are retained at the laboratory under constant 

 observation. Hen No. 10 at autopsy revealed a pathological ovary con- 

 taining several retention cysts. Bacterium pullorum was isolated from this 

 material by direct inoculation. Hen No. 52 at autopsy showed an ovary 

 with retention cysts, and from material crushed in sterile bouillon B. 

 pullorum was detected on all tubes streaked from such material. Then 

 hens Nos. 1, 5, 6, 792, 464 and 13 were autopsied. All ovaries from these 



