328 DIPHTHERIA IN FOWLS 



The following day the condition is aggravated, the tem- 

 perature is several degrees above normal, the appetite has dis- 

 appeared and there is diarrhoea with greenish or yellowish 

 evacuations. From the open beak there escapes a thick, 

 stringy, grayish mucus. The eyes are unnaturally dilated, 

 projecting and possibly partly covered with the thick secretion 

 which has accumulated between the lids. The nostrils are 

 obstructed by the thickened and dried secretion. Walking is 

 irregular and difficult. The mucous membrane of the mouth 

 and pharynx is congested and shows numerous dark red eleva- 

 tions covered with fibrinous exudate. The patches on the 

 tongue have increased in size, they are gray in color, dried 

 along the edges of the tongue but soft and flattened upon its 

 upper surface. They are covered with membranous deposits. 

 The voice often fails. 



^ 248. Morbid anatomy. The lesions are largely local- 

 ized on the mucosa of the head. With the exception of emacia- 

 tion, there are no lesions or evidence of organic disease. The 

 cause of death and the extreme emaciation is difficult to explain 

 in those cases where the lesions were confined to one eye or to 

 the mucosa of the nares, excepting on the supposition that some 

 poisonous or toxic substance was absorbed from the seat of the 

 disease. In those cases where the lesions are in both eyes, 

 or in the mouth and throat, difficulty in finding or swallowing 

 food affords a rational explanation. 



In some cases the exudate is of a croupous character, in 

 others of a diphtheritic nature. Three stages or varieties 

 of lesions which represent the types of this disease as encount- 

 ered in this country may be more definitely defined as follows. 

 (i) An exudate of a serous or muco-purulent character 

 in the conjunctiva and nasal cavities. Ordinarily this condition 

 cannot be recognized in the mouth. The mucosa in these 

 cases are apparently but slightly altered. 



(2) The mucosa over a small or larger area is covered 

 with a spreading exudate of a grayi.sh or yellow color. It is 

 firmly attached to the mucous membrane and when removed 

 leaves a raw, bleeding surface. Sections through this exudate 

 and the subjacent tissues show that the epithelial layer is des- 



