; die jftoftr rjispiy diseases. In a few dozen birds 

 exaimnetd-* chiefly in Cambridge the following 

 . disorders; were.seen'.; Pleuropneumonia in a bird 

 -"which laad JSved Jong in captivity ; pericarditis ; 

 necrotic changes in the liver ; chronic diseases 

 of the peritoneum ; and a septic infection due to 

 gangrene supervening upon a broken wing. 



The disorder which is usually associated with 

 the too comprehensive expression " grouse 

 disease " was investigated by Klein some 

 eighteen years ago, and in this article it will be 

 called Klein's grouse disease. Klein found in 

 the tissues of the bodies of birds that had been 

 dead for some time a certain bacterium, whose 

 nature and life history he investigated. This 

 bacterium is now recognized as one of the 

 Bacillus coli group, a widely spread group of 

 bacteria which are found universally in the ali- 

 mentary tract and which rapidly invade the 

 tissues of the body after death. At the time 

 Klein was working bacteriology was compara- 

 tively a new subject, and this invasion by bac- 

 teria of the tissues at the time of and after death 

 was not appreciated. 



Klein's grouse disease was associated also with 

 some congestion of the lungs ; the windpipe 

 was described as dark in colour, the air-sacs 

 contained blood, in the cavities of the lungs 

 blood or some granular exudation occurred, 

 the liver and kidneys were congested and soft, 

 and there was an exudation on the peritoneum. 

 We now, however, know that many, if not all, 

 of these appearances in the chief organs of the 

 body are but normal post mortem changes and 

 occur sooner or later after death in birds which 

 were perfectly healthy when killed. Another 

 feature attributed to the Klein's grouse disease 

 was that its onset was comparatively sudden ; its 



