STUDY OF POLYNEURITIS GALLINARUM. 425 



muscles to be affected in men suffering from beriberi. A peculi- 

 arity in the gait may be recognized before the legs become com- 

 pletely paralyzed. This is a tendency to raise the feet high in 

 the air and thrust forward with them as though the fowl were 

 attempting to brush away something. This high-stepping gait 

 has never been seen in any condition affecting fowls other than 

 polyneuritis. The fowl may show a tendency to teeter forward 

 on itvS toes, and may stumble when hurried. From the time when 

 paralysis first appears the disease progresses with great rapidity, 

 and as a rule by the second day the fowl will be unable to stand. 

 The position assumed by the bird in this condition is very char- 

 acteristic. Usually it sits quite still upon its flexed tarso-meta- 

 tarsus, but occasionally a bird of more vigor attempts to walk 

 about the cage. However, as the extensor muscles are completely 

 paralyzed, it can not walk upon its feet, but shuffles along upon 

 its flexed tarso-metatarsus. The paralysis now extends rapidly 

 cephalad affecting the muscles of the wings, the neck, and the 

 body, usually in the order named. As a result, the bird is soon 

 unable to sit up, but lies upon its side. There seems, however, 

 to be a general weakness or debility associated with this paralysis. 

 At any rate, the fowl becomes prostrated rather more rapidly 

 than one would expect as a result of mere muscular paralysis. 

 Most of the fowls affected in this way die very promptly, and 

 it is by no means unusual to find the bird dead within two or 

 three days after the first onset of the disease. Some fowls live 

 longer, but almost none survive for a week after the paralysis 

 has set in. 



Wing drop. — Many of the birds present this symptom, which 

 consists in inability to hold the wings in the accustomed position 

 close to the body. They droop in some cases until the wing 

 feathers trail on the ground. This symptom, which is probably 

 due to the paralysis of the wing muscles referred to above, does 

 not occur in all cases and comes on later than the leg symptom. 

 It will be remembered that beriberi in man almost always com- 

 mences by affecting the muscles of the legs, and if the arms are 

 affected this is almost always during a later stage of the disease. 



Spasticity. — This occurs in rare instances during the develop- 

 ment of the disease, but more often during recovery. A fowl 

 that has developed this spastic gait stands and walks with the 

 knees stiff, leaning forward on the tips of the toes so that the 

 ball of the foot scarcely touches the ground. In the effort to 

 maintain its balance, short rapid steps are taken as though the 

 body were so far forward that the feet have to hurry to keep 

 up. During walking the feet frequently .strike together and, 



