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LEUKAEMIA OF THE FOWL: SPONTANEOUS AND 

 EXPERIMENTAL. * f 



By HARRY C. SCHMEISSER, M. D. 

 (From the Department of Pathology of The Johns Hopkins University.) 



I. REVIEW or THE LITERATURE. 



The first publication was made by Moore ' in 1895-1896, in which 

 he reported observations upon an epizootic disease of fowls which he 

 designated " infectious leukaemia." His studies were based upon cases 

 obtained from five different outbreaks, and upon those artificially 

 produced by means of the specific organism (Bacterium sanguinarium) 

 isolated from the organs of these fowls. The descriptions of the 

 spontaneous and experimental cases clearly show that he was not 

 dealing with a true leukaemia of the fowl, but rather with an acute 

 infectious disease, characterized by fever, diminution in the number 

 of red blood cells, and increase in number of white blood cells, this 

 increase being " restricted " to the polymorphonuclear leucocyte with 

 the eosin staining spindles, i. e., the phagocyte of the normal fowl's 

 blood. 



Butterfield, 2 in 1905, reported three cases of aleukaemic lymph- 

 adenoid tumors of the hen. His studies were limited to the livers 

 of these animals. They correspond in every detail, both grossly and 

 microscopically; were uniformly and strikingly enlarged (340, 420, 

 270 gm. respectively) and of a diffuse, light, cream, yellow color. 

 Histologically, the liver tissue was extensively replaced by large oval 

 or round, sometimes irregular, collections of cells. The intralobular 

 capillaries were filled with the usual nucleated red blood cells. Most 

 of the nodules of tumor cells were thought to be in connection 

 with the portal spaces. The cells resembled in general the "large 



* Submitted for publication, October, 1914. 



f Dissertation submitted to the Board of University Studies of The Johns 

 Hopkins University, in conformity with the requirements for the Degree of 

 Doctor of Philosophy, 1914. 



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