DISEASES OF POULTRY. 235 



the disease may chanj^e to greenish or even a deep 

 green. 



\'ery soon after these first symptoms appear the 

 bird separates itself from the flock, it no longer stands 

 erect, the feathers are roughened or stand on end, the 

 wings droop, the head is drawn down towards the 

 body and the general outline of the ])ird becomes 

 spherical or ball -shaped. At this period, there is 

 great weakness, the affected bird becomes drowsy and 

 may sink into a sleep which lasts during the last 

 day or two of its life, and from which it is almost 

 impossible to arouse it. 



The crop is nearly alwaj-s distended with food and 

 apparently paralysed. There is in most cases intense 

 thirst. If the l)irds are aroused and caused to walk 

 there is at first an al)undant discharge of excrement 

 followed at short intervals by scanty evacuations. 



With the beginning of diarrhea the body tempera- 

 ture rises to 109 degrees or 110 degrees F., which is 

 2 degrees to 4 degrees above the normal. The comb 

 loses its bright hue and becomes pale and bloodless. 

 In Europe the comb is described as dark blue, purple, 

 or black, and some writers in the United States have 

 referred to it in the same terms, but the author has 

 never observed a dark comb in the cases he has seen. 



Diseased birds rapidly lose in weight, they are so 

 weak that a ^ light touch causes them to fall over, and 

 they walk with great difficult}'. Death may occur 

 without a struggle or there ma}' be convulsive move- 

 ments and cries. 



This disease may rapidly run through a flock de- 

 stroying the greater ])art of the birds in a week, or it 

 may assume a more chronic form, extend slowly, and 



