CHICKENS COLD-STORED UNDER KNOWN CONDITIONS. 53 



noticed for the drawn chicken, which showed in darkened areas and 

 streaks here and there. No difference was noted between the drawn 

 and the undrawn in the texture of the muscle. 



In the undrawn fowl the spleen and kidneys appeared practically 

 normal. The heart muscle was rather soft and the liver pale yellowish 

 in color and easily disintegrated. In the drawn fowl the lungs were 

 dark, bloody, and very unsightly. The heart, liver, and gizzard had 

 been dressed and returned to the abdominal cavity. They were 

 rather dry in appearance and somewhat darkened in color. The 

 color of the hip bones and ends of the joints in this drawn chicken 

 were much reddened and the subcutaneous fat, particularly near the 

 vent, had taken on a greenish tinge. On the whole, the general phys- 

 ical condition of the drawn bird did not compare as favorably with the 

 fresh chicken as did the undrawn. The bacteriological findings for 

 these two chickens are given in the table as Nos. B. C. 4295 and B. C. 

 4296. 



The next examination of the drawn and undrawn chickens was 

 made after a storage period of 384 days. These chickens were thawed 

 in an ice box protected by a sterile tin can closed by sterilized absorb- 

 ent cotton. It was noticed that the normal shapes of the chickens 

 were decidedly altered by pressure in the packing box. 



The odor of the undrawn chicken was slightly rancid and some- 

 what fecal. The color compared favorably with that of the fresh fowl, 

 there were, however, discolored areas over the back and the sacrum 

 and a few blebs of gas in the subcutaneous cellular tissue. An 

 examination of the body cavity showed soft watery viscera mixed 

 with blood and much degenerated. The liver was pale and soft. 

 The other organs were rather darker in color than the normal. The 

 intestines were grayish yellow, degenerated, and very distinctly 

 different from those of the fresh bird. Except for the condition of 

 the lungs, the body cavity of the drawn chicken was in better condi- 

 tion than that of the undrawn. The heads of the long bones were 

 dark red. As was to be expected from the macroscopic appearance 

 of these birds, the bacteriological findings were fairly rich. They are 

 given in detail in the table under Nos. B. C. 14 and B. C. 15. 



Chickens Nos. B. C. 560 and B. C. 561 were in storage for 517 days. 

 There had been, since the first examination, an increase in the num- 

 ber of infected organs, and, keeping pace with this condition, the 

 number of species isolated increases. With such a bacteriological 

 condition, there coexisted the following macroscopic appearance: 



The skin, in both the drawn and undrawn chickens, was somewhat 

 discolored and becoming dry, especially on the back, tips of wings, 

 and such prominent portions. In general, the tissues were plump, 

 though the breast of the drawn chicken was drying out. The body 



