Molluscum Contagiosum in Birds. 203 



escaping in the form of a thick creamy mass, which suggests 

 the error that it was variolous. A nodule may stand isolated or 

 discrete ; in other cases a number aggregate together like a 

 granulating surface ; in still others they become confluent, and 

 grow out in considerable masses, the surface having a conglomer- 

 ate appearance like that of a strawberry. Under this exuberant 

 growth it becomes rough, scurfy and more or less broken by fis- 

 sures. The drying exudate may close and seal the eyelids, or 

 obstruct the orifices of the nose or ears. 



Pathological Anatomy . The first consideration is that this is a 

 product of the dermis or rather of the deep la3'^er of the epithe- 

 lium (Malpighian layer) and does not encroach on the cutis vera 

 or adjacent tissues, hence the ease with which it is enuncleated. 

 The deep, or basal cells of these mucous layers are normal, but in 

 the 3d or 4th stratum, the cells become granular, opaque and 

 swollen, the nucleus is displaced or disappears, yet the outer mem- 

 brane remains distinct and thickened and from this the cell grad- 

 ually dries into a scaly mass which is desquamated. The form of 

 the individual cell may be round, oval, or fusiform with attenuated 

 ends. A careful dissection may show the clusters of altered epi- 

 thelial cells enclosed in separate chambers converging above to a 

 point in the center of the mass. It is at this point that drying 

 and exfoliation takes place most rapidly, accounting for the um- 

 bilication. 



Prognosis. In the milder cases, affecting the skin, a sponta- 

 neous recovery may take place, the morbid product slowly drying 

 up and exfoliating to leave a healthy surface. In the mouth, 

 nose and pharynx a recovery is more tardy, or the excess of the 

 morbid product may cause suffocation and death, or its persis- 

 tence may lead to a great impairment of health, and marasmus. 

 The worst cases are those in which the disease extends to the 

 crop, proventriculus, gizzard or bowels. There is dulness, pros- 

 tration, and emaciation in spite of an inordinate appetite, ruffling 

 of the feathers, dragging of the wings and tail, irritable bowels 

 or diarrhoea, raucous cries, and death in three or four weeks (4 

 or 5 weeks after inoculation. — Bollinger). 



Treatment. This has been carried out most successfully along 

 the lines resorted to for fowl diphtheria (croup). Painting the 

 affected part with a two per cent solution of creolin or carbolic 



