Our  Canaries 
159 
is  on  eggs  which  are  gradually  removed,  or  get  over  the  nest  into  the  corners 
of  nesting  box,  the  hen  will  become  a  'squatter  on  nothing.' 
"  No.  6.  Can  be  explained  that  ovules  are  not  ready,  or  that  hen  has 
reached  the  end  of  her  reproductive  power  as  far  as  eggs  are  concerned. 
"  No,  7.  This  hen  may  have  had  some  inflammatory  trouble  of  the 
ovary  after  her  first  year.  Stimulus  in  second  and  third  year  sufficient  to  start 
cycle.  Movements  of  young  insufficient  to  arouse  her  from  the  stage  of 
incubation  to  that  of  feeding. 
"  No.  8.  Stimulus  sufficient  to  mature  an  ovule  at  intervals,  but  not 
strong  enough  to  bring  the  clutch  to  maturity  at  the  usual  daily  interval. 
"  No.  9,  Possibly  the  ovaries  ill  developed,  and  any  stimulus  from  them  is 
not  sufficient  to  rouse  up  the  instinct  of  reproduction." 
SUMMARY. 
"  The  conclusions  arrived  at  with  regard  to  squatting  are  that  the  con- 
dition is  an  outcome  of  an  abnormal  reproductive  cycle.  The  causes  of  the 
deviation  are  varied,  and  it  cannot  be  assigned  to  one  definite  cause.  Any  stimulus 
arising  from  the  external  world  may  be  deficient,  or  the  nervous  sexual  organisation 
of  the  hen  may  fail  to  respond  as  it  should  to  a  stimulus  which,  in  the  ordinary 
way,  would  be  of  sufficient  strength  to  produce  a  definite  result.  The  tone  of  the 
nervous  system  may  be  below  par,  although  no  evidence  of  this  is  forthcoming 
from  the  general  appearance  of  health  and  well-being  of  the  hen,  and  the 
specialised  centre  controlling  the  reproductive  organs  would  share  in  the  lack 
of  tone  of  the  whole  nervous  system.  In  the  present  state  of  our  knowledge 
there  is  no  evidence  to  show  that  the  suggested  anatomical  causes  of  absence 
of  eggs  in  association  with  squatting  have  anything  to  do  with  the  production  of 
the  condition,  but  it  must  not  be  assumed  that  such  causes  could  not  be  present 
until  it  is  proved  by  repeated  dissection  that  they  are  absent. 
"  Each  case  must  be  considered  separately  on  its  own  merits,  and  a  full  view 
of  the  possibilities  of  the  defect  borne  in  mind,  lest  an  erroneous  idea  be 
entertained  that  a  hen  which  squats  one  season  will  of  necessity  do  so  the 
next.  If  a  repetition  occurs  in  two  successive  seasons  and  the  hen  is  in 
apparently  perfect  health  in  other  respects,  and  external  possible  causes  have  been 
guarded  against,  it  is  more  probable  that  the  condition  is  due  to  a  defect  in  the 
sexual  organisation  of  the  hen,  which  it  is  unlikely  that  any  form  of  treatment  will 
alter." 
