Diseases of the Oviduct in Birds. 297 



the paresis that occurs In old birds from prolonged laying, or 

 from inflammation and impactions. It may appear abruptly or 

 gradually, and after a few hours becomes the seat of exudation, 

 swelling and redness, forming a pyriform mass. In some cases 

 it is carried out around an egg which does not glide through its 

 canal and may be felt through its walls, and through its terminal 

 opening. A partial eversion may take place as an invagination into 

 the cloaca, without showing externally. When an egg is im- 

 pacted, or when the protruded organ is inflamed and swollen, 

 violent straining continues, which tends to aggravate the con- 

 dition, and the bird gets rapidly exhausted, resting on its breast, 

 later upon its back, and dying in convulsions. 



In slight cases following copulation, the vermicular movement 

 of the duct, of the cloaca and anus may serve to secuire speedy 

 spontaneous reduction. In the partial cases, of eversion into the 

 cloaca, the free local use of oil, may secure the passage of the 

 presenting egg and the return of the oviduct. If necessary the 

 egg may be broken and its shell thoroughly extracted. This last 

 method is imperative when the egg enclosed in the oviduct has 

 already passed through the anus. The oviduct should then be 

 cleansed in tepid water, and laudanum, oiled and returned. 



Infiammation of the oviduct is a common condition resulting 

 from debiHty, from impaction of an egg or of egg-material, from 

 scratching with the shell of a broken egg, and' from microbian 

 invasion. The frequent passage of large eggs is an accessory 

 cause, and the egg becomes an important factor in the mainte- 

 nance and aggravation of the inflammation. The mucosa be- 

 comes red, dry, infiltrated, thickened and friable, and the muscu- 

 lar coat increasingly paretic. The egg, becoming impacted, and 

 subjected to constant pressure in the vain efforts at expulsion, 

 hinders circulation and nutrition, and favors necrotic and ulcera- 

 tive processes, and too often the fragile membranous walls yield, 

 and the mass drops into the abdominal cavity. Short of this, 

 the exudate at a particular point, the main seat of inflammation, 

 contracting in undergoing organization, forms a distinct stricture, 

 which renders the further laying of fully formed eggs difiicult or 

 impossible, and further impaction, inflammation and rupture may 

 follow. Sometimes the irritation causes undue peristalsis in the 

 anterior and less actively inflamed part of the tube, and the eggs 



