238 DISEASES OF POULTRY. 



benzoic acid 1 per cent; carbolic acid 1 per cent; 

 sulphuric acid ^ per cent. Substances which failed 

 to destroy the virulence were alcohol 20 per cent ; 

 boric acid 2 per cent; sulphate of potassium 2 per 

 cent; iodine 0.1 per cent. 



This germ may gain entrance to the body through 

 the digestive tract, the respiratory organs, or through 

 wounds of the skin. It diffuses itself through the 

 blood, multiplying in this liquid, and in all of the 

 liquids and organs of the body. Death is caused in 

 acute cases by the toxic substances produced during 

 the multiplication of the germ, and in chronic cases, 

 by the disturbances of digestion, assimilation and 

 nutrition. 



The meat of infected and even of dead birds has 

 been eaten in some countries without injurious effects 

 to the consumers. It is assumed, therefore, that such 

 meat is innocuous ; but its sale should be prohibited 

 in common with all meat from sick animals, or from 

 those which have died from natural causes. 



The germ of fowl cholera is fatal to rabbits, 

 causing death in from twelve to forty -eight hours. 

 When inoculated upon guinea pigs, sheep, horses and 

 mankind, an abscess forms at the point of inoculation, 

 but there are no general symptoms and recovery soon 

 follows. 



Treatment. — All forms of medical treatment for 

 cholera have been unsatisfactory when tested suffici- 

 ently to prove their exact effects. Many preparations 

 have been recommended, but their sanguine discover- 

 ers had not been careful to ascertain that they really 

 were treating cholera, or they had tried them on so 

 few birds that their results were untrustworthy. 



The drugs most frequently used are sulphur. 



