DISEASES OF POULTRY. 97 



blood, and if a cut is made into it considerable blood 

 escapes. The spleen is also enlarged, but pale; the 

 intestines and particularly the caeca are red and con- 

 tain considerable mucus. In the chronic form of the 

 disease the liver may be found smaller than in health. 



The disease is distinguished from the cholera by its 

 longer duration , the tendency to the chronic form, by 

 its limitation to a single premises and by the fact that 

 it is not transmitted to rabbits bj^ inoculation. It is 

 very destructive and from fifty to eighty per cent of 

 the fowls on a farm may die before the disease disap- 

 pears. 



Treatment. — To prevent outbreaks of bacterial 

 enteritis cleanliness should be enforced about the 

 poultry buildings, and the birds should be allowed, 

 only pure and clean drinking water and food that is 

 not undergoing: putrefaction. When fowls are com- 

 pelled to slake their thirst by drinking the foul water 

 of stagnant ponds, or the seepage from the barn j^ard, 

 or when they are fed with rotten grain or vegetables 

 or with putrid meat, this disease is liable to develop. 

 It is, therefore, important to avoid this exciting cause 

 of the malady. The trouble may also be introduced 

 with sick fowls that are brought upon the place, and, 

 hence, the necessity of isolating or quarantining all 

 new arrivals until their perfect health is assured. By 

 such a precaution not only this disease but all other 

 forms of contagion may in many cases be avoided. 



After the disease has broken out among the poultry 

 on a farm, the first effort for its eradication should be 

 a general cleaning up and disinfection. The disinfec- 

 tant may be a five per cent solution of carbolic acid 

 for saturating the floor and woodwork of the build- 

 ings, followed by a thorough application of lime wash. 



