BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 33 



were treated and preserved according to Kaiserling's method, and the 

 anatomical preparations were added to the pathological collection of 

 this division. At the same time the various tissues were hardened, 

 sectioned, stained, and mounted, and the collector notified of the 

 diagnosis made upon microscopical examination. In this manner 

 more than 2,000 permanent preparations have been made and pre- 

 served for future reference. 



A great number of pen-and-ink as well as water-color sketches have 

 also been made of the anatomical as well as the histological appear- 

 ances of the specimens, for the purpose of publication with a series of 

 notes upon comparative pathology with special reference to meat 

 inspection. A great deal of this material is now on hand and will be 

 published with as little delay as possible. 



DISEASES OF POULTRY. 



Of all the various classes of domesticated animals, there is probably 

 none which suffer to the same extent from infectious and contagious 

 diseases as do the domesticated fowls. A number of diseased or dead 

 fowls were received during the past year for diagnosis and advice as 

 to treatment and prevention. An outbreak of an acute and very fatal 

 disease among a large flock of thoroughbred Plymouth Rocks, in 

 northern Virginia, is of special interest. As the disease differed from 

 all those hitherto described, a thorough investigation was made both 

 at the premises where the outbreak occurred and in this laboratory, 

 and a bulletin containing the preliminary notes on an outbreak of 

 apoplectiform septicaemia in chickens, caused by a highly virulent 

 nonpyogenic streptococcus, has been prepared and is now ready for 

 publication. 



All the other specimens forwarded were recognized as originating 

 from outbreaks of diseases, the nature and cause of which are more 

 or less well established, and the owners were furnished with informa- 

 tion as to the proper means of treatment and prevention. 



Under this heading may also be mentioned an epidemic eye disease 

 which prevailed among the crows in the District of Columbia and 

 surrounding country during the past winter. In certain localities 

 great numbers of crows were found dead or dying, all of them exhib- 

 iting symptoms of suppurative keratitis and conjunctivitis. An 

 investigation led to the discovery of a small microorganism as the 

 probable cause of this disease, but, on account of failure to obtain 

 healthy crows for experimental purposes, the investigation was not 

 brought to a satisfactory conclusion. 



SKIN DISEASE IN HORSES. 



During February last attention was called to a skin disease pre- 

 vailing among the horses on the Umatilla Indian Reservation at Pen- 

 dleton, Oreg., and specimens of hide of the affected animals were 

 forwarded to this division for diagnosis. As several thousand horses 

 were said to be affected with this disease, it was of importance that a 

 diagnosis be made, and means suggested for its eradication. The 

 probable causative agent was found to be Sarcoptes complicated by 

 the presence of a vegetable fungus which has never hitherto been 

 known to possess pathogenic properties. A bulletin has been prepared 

 on the subject and will be published at the conclusion of a series of 

 experiments which are now being undertaken with a view to finding 

 a remedy for the disease. 



AGR 1901 3 



