FOWL CHOLERA. 
00 
the part excreted by the kidneys is easily distinguished, as during 
health it is of a pure white color, while the bowel discharges are 
of various hues. The kidney excretion will be hereafter re¬ 
ferred to as the urates , and it is the only part which claims our 
attention. 
After a fowl takes the contagion into its body the first and 
only reliable symptom is a coloration of the urates. At first 
these have only a faint yellow tint, which rapidly changes, 
however, into a deep yellow color ; up to this time the bird 
shows no other signs of the disease, its temperature is unchanged 
and its excrement of a normal consistency. In one or more days 
after this yellow color appears the urates are greatly increased 
in quantity and constitute the whole or a greater part of the 
discharges, and an obstinate diarrhoea sets in ; in a few cases the 
urates now become greenish, and exceptionally they are of a deep 
green color. 
The only lesion seen in post-mortem examinations that is 
likely to attract the attention of non professional observers is 
the enlarged liver, which is nearly constant—it may be of 
various shades of color. Besides this, the presence of yellow 
urates in the cloaca and ureters is a valuable sign, and is gene¬ 
rally present. 
2. Sick birds must be destroyed .—The excrements of dck 
birds are the principal means of spreading the contagion, and the 
first step in stamping out the disease is, consequently, to destroy 
all which are voiding yellow urates. Care should be had to make 
the distinction between the urates and the bowel dejections, for 
the latter are frequently of a yellow color in health ; but a little 
observation will preclude any mistake of this kind. The killing 
should not be by any method which allows the escape of blood, as 
this fluid is even more virulent than the excrement; wringing the 
neck is a quick and easy method of destroying the life. Once 
killed the bodies are to be taken beyond the limits of the poultry 
run and deeply buried. 
If it is decided to keep the sick birds till they die or recover, 
they should be placed in an inclosure by themselves, as far as 
possible from the healthy ones, where they may be cared for 
