LEAD POISONING IN WATERFOWL. 5 



heart seemed to be affected seriously, and the pulse in many cases was 

 rapid and very strong. In one instance the heartbeat of a male mal- 

 lard under observation in the laboratory was distinctly audible at a 

 distance of 10 feet, but this was unusual. It was found that birds thus 

 affected were liable to die after any fright or exertion that stimulated 

 the heart action strongly. In one instance a mallard in the water 

 dived to escape capture, and remained beneath the surface for 30 

 seconds. It came up, and attempted to dive again, but suddenly re- 

 laxed, and was dead. In other instances birds kept in experiment 

 pens died while being handled. Death frequently came during the 

 spasms described above. 



Birds with lead poisoning always had good appetites, and ate 

 eagerly. Often when they were so weak as to be unable to stand, the 

 gullet and upper portion of the stomach were found to be crammed 

 with food. These birds drank copiously and at short intervals. 

 When disturbed they often regurgitated quantities of greenish fluid, 

 a watery discharge that stained the mouth cavity and the tongue. No 

 solids came with this. Birds of the groups affected are, in so far as 

 the writer's experience is concerned, unable to return solids that have 

 been swallowed. 



POST-MORTEM APPEARANCE. 



The flesh of birds dead from lead poisoning is in nearly all cases 

 pale. This pallor was well marked in ducks that had been sick for 

 some time, and occurred before a wasting of the muscles began. In 

 chronic cases in which emaciation was extreme there was a marked 

 pallidness of the larger muscle masses, and even of the viscera. The 

 blood was slow to coagulate, and frequently remained fluid for 10 

 or 12 hours after death. Studies made of blood taken from living 

 birds indicated a decrease in the number of red corpuscles, but as the 

 apparatus used in making blood counts was imperfect, results from 

 these examinations were far from satisfactory. At that time perfect 

 counting chambers for the usual grades of hsemacytometers were not 

 available on the market, so that conclusive studies of the effect of lead 

 poisoning on the blood are yet to be made. 



Examination of blood smears has failed as yet to show the presence 

 of granules that have been noted in the case of lead poisoning in 

 mammals. The heart generally was in systole. In case the bird 

 examined had become weakened while in the water, so that actual 

 death came through drowning, the ventricles were in diastole as is 

 usual in birds that have drowned, but this was an abnormal condi- 

 tion. In chronic cases of a week or more in duration the pericardium 

 was usually distended with a watery lymph, slightly tinged with 

 brownish orange. 



