218 BACILLARY WHITE DIARRHEA OF FOWLS 
dull, the head is drawn down and the respirations are increased and 
labored. Diarrhea is usually present and in the cases of longer stand- 
ing the feces gum up the tail feathers. If the disease becomes chronic, 
lasting from one to three weeks, emaciation is marked and the gait is 
uncertain. Both Rettger and Jones have called attention to the fact 
that in those that live the legs seem to grow but the body is stunted, 
giving rise to the expression “‘short backed chickens” among poultry- 
men. In adults there is paleness of the comb and visible mucous 
membranes. The comb seems to be shrunken, scaley and grey in 
color. The fowls are listless, depressed, head drawn down and the 
wings sag. There is loss of appetite and diarrhea. 
The duration of the disease is, in young chickens, from 1 to 4 days 
and in adults from 4 to 5 days, although in some cases the fowls live 
for a much longer time. 
Morbid anatomy. The lesions in the young chick are those of 
septicemia. There is marked congestion of the liver, spleen and 
kidneys. The unabsorbed yolk is, according to Jones, the most 
characteristic lesion of the disease. In adults, minute necrotic foci 
appear in the liver, spleen, pancreas and sometimes larger areas in the 
heart muscle. Jones described a fibrinous exudate as a somewhat 
constant lesion on the capsule of the liver, spleen and pericardium. 
In the ‘carriers the ovaries are usually cystic. 
Diagnosis. Bacillary white diarrhea in young chickens is diagnosed 
by the symptoms and the finding of Bact. pullorum in the organs of the 
dead chicks. In adult fowls that die of the disease it is diagnosed in 
the same manner. Infected fowls, that harbor the organism in the 
ovaries, can be detected by the agglutination test or, if killed, by the 
bacteriological examination of the ovaries. Jones found that the 
macroscopic agglutination test is of great assistance in picking out 
fowls that are harboring this organism. The agglutination takes 
place in dilutions of 1.50, 1.100, and 1.200 which dilutions are 
recommended for practical purposes. In his investigations, Jones 
found that all the infected fowls agglutinated at 1-100. 91% 
agglutinated in a dilution of 1-200 and 82% in a dilution of 1-500. A 
few agglutinated in still higher (1-800 to 1-2000) dilutions. He ob- 
tained the best results with a test fluid made trom several freshly 
isolated strains of Bact. pullorum. 
Bacillary white diarrhea is to be differentiated from dietary troubles, 
chicken cholera, fowl typhoid, aspergillosis, and coccidiosis. 
