230 DISEASE IN WILD MAMMALS AND BIRDS 
that could be determined. Regeneration seemed to be 
progressing in the manner just outlined. 
Necroses. 
The degenerative and infiltrative areas of acute hepa- 
titis are simulated by focal necroses in livers not the seat 
of a general hepatitis from which they can be differen- 
tiated only by the microscope. These small areas of 
local tissue death are quite common in all pathological 
processes but are most common in the liver, possibly 
because of its exposure to toxins from the intestine. Their 
exact origin is not determined, various explanations 
being given. The somewhat distinct distribution in mam- 
mals versus that in birds may help in the final decision. 
In the former, focal necroses are more often encountered 
midway in the anatomic lobule and around the central 
vein whereas a perivascular location seems the usual 
position in the bird. 
Massive necroses of the liver may be of considerable 
importance in veterinary medicine. They take their origin 
in several different ways. The commonest in our records 
are those due to cecal coccidiosis and amoebiasis (quail 
disease and blackhead) while from the primary seat of 
these two infectious diseases, the cecum, may originate 
the virus of non-specific hepatic necroses. We have 
observed several birds, passerine, psittacine and galli- 
naceous, which at autopsy showed a distention of the 
cloaca, ceca, and lower small intestine with urates and 
slime but no mural inflammation and a large area of 
necrosis in the liver. This suggests perhaps a '^ white 
diarrhoea " but it did not occur in epizootics and other 
morbid anatomy of this specific disease was absent. These 
frequent instances of association between the colonic area 
and the liver seem to suggest the transfer of necrotizing 
organisms, just as amoebae travel, and to indicate measures 
to clean out the tract when birds become '* plastered." 
Massive necroses also arise from mould disease, and from 
