HISTORY 361 



^ 286. History. In 1881, Plana described a disease of 

 the intestines of fowls in Italy due to the presence of Taenia 

 bothrioplitis. His article deals more with the anatomy and 

 classification of the cestode than with the character of the 

 lesions it produced. However, he illustrates the nodules and 

 heads of the tapeworms in the intestinal wall. 



In 1894, this disease was encountered in some fowls that 

 were affected with diphtheria and that were under observation 

 in the Bureau of Animal Industry. The following year the 

 disease was briefly described. 



§ 287. Geographical distribution. The extent of the 

 distribution of this disease does not seem to be recorded. It 

 had appeared in fowls from North Carolina, Virginia and the 

 District of Columbia at the time it was described and .since 

 then a disease has been reported from the Eastern part of the 

 State of New York and from Ohio which appears to be identi- 

 cal with it. As the inquiry into the cause of poultry diseases 

 becomes more general, it is probable that this affection will be 

 occasionally encountered, and unless its nature is recognized it 

 may lead to an unwarranted destruction of property. 



^ 288. Etiology. As first pointed out by Plana, the 

 nodules are produced by a cell infiltration caused by the irrita- 

 tion of the head of a small cestode. Piana identified it as 

 Tcrnia bothrioplitis but Stiles places it as Davaimr tetragona. 

 There seems to be no other para.site of fowls capable of pro- 

 ducing such lesions. 



§ 289. Symptoms. The only evidence of the disease, 

 which is not characteristic of this affection, is a general 



emaciation. 



§ 290. Morbid anatomy. The lesions described for 

 this disease are restricted to the intestinal wall. All of the 

 fowls described, affected with this malady, were from one to 



three years old. 



The nodules are invariably more numerous in the lowest 

 third of the small intestine. They occasionally appeared, how- 

 ever, in small numbers in both the duodenum and colon. The 

 larger and to all appearances older nodules are found in the 

 ileum near the caeca. 



