DISEASES OF POULTRY. 219 



greenish or yellowish evacuations. From the open 

 beak there escapes a thick, stringy, grayish mucus. 

 The eyes are unnaturally dilated, projecting and 

 partly covered with the thick secretion which has 

 accumulated between the lids. The nostrils are ob - 

 structed by the thickened and dried secretion. Walk- 

 ing is irregular and difficult. The mucous membrane 

 of the mouth and pharynx is red, congested, inflamed 

 and shows numerous dark red elevations covered with 

 fibrinous exudate. The patches on the tongue have 

 increased in size, they are gray in color, dried along 

 the edges of the tongue but soft and flattened upon its 

 upper surface and are covered with membranous 

 deposits. The voice often fails. 



The third, fourth or fifth day, the whole interior of 

 the mouth may be covered with false membranes ob- 

 structing almost completely the openings of the 

 pharynx and larynx. Swallowing is very difficult or 

 impossible and breathing is liable to be arrested at 

 any time. The false membrane first appears as a 

 thin yellowish or grayish layer and becomes thicker 

 as the disease advances. With pigeons, it is cheesy 

 (caseous) and easily detached, while with fowls it is 

 more resistant, fibrous, and can only be removed with 

 some force, generally leaving a raw, bleeding or 

 ulcerated surface. Later, this membrane becomes 

 irregular and rough on the surface, dry, fissured and 

 of a brownish color. The decomposition of the 

 membranes at this period gives the breath a very 

 marked and disagreeable odor of decomposition. At 

 this time it may be removed without causing bleeding, 

 as the surface beneath has partly or entirely healed. 



In certain cases the false membranes form in the 

 trachea and extend to the lungs and air-sacs. There 



