148 DISEASES OF POULTRY. 



blance in plumage, voice, spurs, habits, etc., to ca- 

 pons , and should be fattened and killed for the table,^ 

 as they are of no value for other purposes. 



TUMORS OF THE OVARY. 



There are frequently found tumors of considerable 

 size in connection with the ovary. A common variety 

 is composed of the yolks of eggs which have matured 

 but which have failed to enter the oviduct. These 

 tumors are yellow in color, and are made up of 

 concentric layers in which the yolk can be recognized, 

 as it has somewhat the appearance seen in a cooked, 

 egg. Megnin records a case in which this trouble 

 appeared to be hereditary, as all the hens belonging to a 

 particular strain were affected. 



In rare instances, the development of the ovum is 

 abnormal, and instead of a mature yolk resulting, the 

 calyx is found to contain only a thin liquid, and the 

 ovary thus becomes transformed into a mass of cystic 

 tumors suspended upon long pedicles. Cancerous tu- 

 mors of the ovary have also been observed. 



Treatment is, of course, impossible in these cases as 

 the nature of the disease is not determined until after 

 the bird's death. If such abnormal conditions are 

 frequently found, it is an indication that there is a 

 predisposition in that direction in the strain of birds. 

 The only way to correct this is to kill off the flock and 

 obtain different blood. 



GANGRENE OF THE OVARY. 



This disease is quite common with all varieties of 

 poultry. On examination of the ovary after death, 

 the ova are found in different stages of development, 

 but instead of being yellowish -pink in color, with the 

 blood vessels well defined, they are brown or black, 

 easily crushed and the contents broken down into a- 



