ABSTRACTS. 2C)1 



::1x:dies on the physiology of reproduction 

 in the domestic fowl. xii. 



(;x ...x Abnormality or the Oviduct and Its Effect upon 

 Reproduction.* 



Tliis paper describes a case of cono^enital obstruction of the 

 (Aidiict, of unusual character. 



The bird was a year and a half old Rhode Island Red hen 

 which had been killed for meat. She was well grown and in 

 goo 1 Hesh. When the body cavity was opened it was found 

 full of membrane covered eggs. They represented every possi- 

 ble stage of absorption from a normal membrane shelled &gg to 

 collapsed empty egg membranes. Some of the eggs and empty 

 membranes were free in the body cavity. Others were walled 

 off in pockets either singly or in aggregates. There was one 

 large mass (twice the size of a hen's egg) of empty tightly 

 packed egg membranes. At the time of examination 15 absorb- 

 ing eggs and a very large number of empty membranes were 

 found. Eleven of the 15 eggs had evidently been normal eggs 

 although many of them contained a homogeneous mixture of 

 yolk and albumen at the time examined. Four were double 

 eggs. That is, one tgg enclosed within another. One of the 

 Jour was made up of a series of four concentric eggs. The 

 inner e.gg being a small "witch" or "cock" &gg_ 



The ovary of this bird was in the same condition as the 

 ovary of any laying bird. It had a normal series of enlarging 

 yolks and resorbing follicles. The oviduct as far as the pos- 

 terior end of the isthmus or &gg membrane secreting portion 

 was also in the normal laying condition. At the posterior end 

 of the isthmus the duct ended blindly, although the ligament 

 which suspends the duct from the body wall continued normally 

 to the end of the body cavity. There was no shell gland or 

 vagina. The only opening to the duct was the funnel mouth. 



It was evident that this bird was in the midst of a normal 

 period of reproduction and was producing eggs in a normal 

 manner as far as her oviduct allowed. The membrane shelled 

 eggs then backed into the body cavity from whence they wove 



*This is an abstract of a paper by Maynie R. Curtis, having the same 

 title and published in Biological Bulletin, Vol. XXVIII, pp. 154-163. 

 PI. I. & II. 1915. 



