GROUSE DISEASE 213 



The worms seem to be most numerous at the 

 proximal end of the caeca, and when they exist 

 in large numbers, the contents of these most 

 important diverticula of the alimentary canal 

 become hard and very adherent to the mucous 

 membrane, forming whitish patches when seen 

 from the outside. After washing away the 

 flocculent matter, which can only be effected 

 with time, the mucosa frequently appears red- 

 dened. There was no reason to believe this 

 inflammatory state is due to post mortem changes. 

 The ridges which run along the walls of the caeca 

 become thickened, the villi, as a rule, greatly 

 hypertrophied (in other cases atrophied), and 

 both villi and ridges were embedded in the above- 

 mentioned cementing material, and seem to be 

 composed of a mixture of mucous and granular 

 debris. Numerous Strongyles were seen adhering 

 to the mucous membrane, and seem in places 

 frequently to penetrate the villi. In some of the 

 most serious cases the ridges were found to re- 

 semble masses of coral with cave-like depressions 

 between the individual villi which frequently 

 ceased to be distinguishable ; from these de- 

 pressions one or more Strongyli protruded. In 

 section the epithelium was seen to be hyper- 



