STUDIES ON THE PHYSIOLOGY OF REPRODUCTION 

 IN THE DOMESTIC FOWL. .XII. 



On an Abnormality of the Oviduct and Its Effect upon 

 Reproduction.^ 



MAYNIE R. CURTIS. 



In a recent paper Pearl and Curtis (1914) have shown that when 

 the passage of an egg through the oviduct is prevented by surgical 

 interference with the duct the sex organs pass through their 

 normal reproductive cycles. The oviduct functions to the level 

 where the passage is interrupted and the egg is then- returned into 

 the body cavity. The eggs thus set free may be absorbed without 

 causing any serious disturbance in metabolism. In a paper still 

 in press (Curtis and Pearl) it has also been shown that congenital 

 or acquired obstructions to the oviduct may occur without arti- 

 ficial interference and that the results in such cases are the same 

 as in the former cases. 



The following case was recently brought to our attention by 

 Mr. J. C. Hawkes, Poultryman at the Maine Agricultural 

 College poultry plant. 



A year and a half old Rhode Island Red bird was killed for 

 meat. She was well grown, in good flesh and in every respect 

 was perfectly normal In appearance. When an incision was made 

 to remove the viscera a full sized membrane shelled egg slipped 

 into the opening. Mr. Hawkes then kindly turned the bird over 

 to us for examination. 



The eggs and egg membranes shown in Fig. i were all removed 

 from the body cavity of this bird. These represented every 

 possible stage of absorption of the egg from a normal membrane 

 shelled fresh egg to the collapsed empty membranes shown in 

 the fourth line of the figure. Some of the eggs and some of the 

 empty membranes were free in the body cavity. Some were 



1 Papers from the Biological Laboratory of the Maine Agricultural Experiment 

 Station No. 76. 



