The Cause of Lack of Stamina. Dr. A. W. Greenwood. Poultry, October 31, 1936.

Author considers that a pullet which lives for 3 years and produces not less than 140 eggs in her third year possesses “constitutional vigour.”

Neither pullet year records nor pullet breeding have any connection with the inheritance of vigour, since approximately as many persistent fowls were obtained from pullet-bred stock as from 2-year-olds, and the mortality rate was the same.

The Growth of Embryonic Nervous Tissue in Plasma taken from Vitamin A deficient Fowls and Rats. W. R. Aykroyd and G. Sankaran. Indian Journal of Medical Research. Vol. 23, 1936, p. 929. (Ref. Nutrition Abstracts, Vol. 6, 1936, p. 318.)

Fragments of spinal cord or cerebrum from fowl embryos incubated for 7 to 9 days were cultivated in a mixture of Tyrode solution with the plasma of young fowls which had been exposed to sunlight and fed on a diet deficient in vitamin A, on the same diet with cod liver oil added, and on a normal diet. Fragments of cerebrum from rat embryos 19 to 21 days old were similarly cultured in plasma from rats on corresponding diets. In both series the growth of the explanted tissue was markedly inferior in the plasma from deficient animals, was best in that from normally fed animals, and was intermediate in that from animals on the deficient diet with vitamin A as cod liver oil.

A comparison in laying of breeds: S. C. W. Leghorn, Rhode-Island Red, and Black la Bresse. N. Fiat and B. Spilberg. Hassadeh, Vol. XII, No. 5, Feb. 1932. Mikveh Israel Agricultural School, Palestine (Hebrew).

The comparison was made on birds of general flocks, all of which were trapnested.

Septicæmic Pullorum Disease in a flock of adult fowls. L. Hart and T. G. Hungerford. Australian Veterinary Journal, Vol. 12, 1936, p. 17.

An account is given of a disease met with in a flock of 600 adult fowls in which approximately 8 per cent. died and about 25 per cent. showed symptoms. It was manifested as a septicæmia, with some focal infection in heart muscle, liver, spleen and kidney. Cultures from these tissues yielded an organism which was differentiated from Salmonella sanguinarium and shown to be S. pullorum.

Effect on various Breeds of Poultry of the Lack of Vitamin A. Sul comportamento di alcune Razze di Polli sottoposti a carenza di Vitamine A. Dr. A. Scaccini. Rivista di Avicultura, 1935, p. 359.

Rhode Island Chickens appeared to be more sensitive than White Leghorns to the lack of Vit. A.

Two Black Australorp Hens which turned white in Colour. A. M. Gericke. Grootfontein School of Agriculture, Middelburg, Cape. South African Journal of Science, Vol. 31, 1934, p. 425.

Conclusions:

If these females were genetically dominant for the white colour and carried it in a homozygous condition all the chicks should have been white in colour. All the chicks were of a black colour and showed the typical appearance of a pure bred Australorp bird. The reciprocal matings were also made giving the same results.

Agglutination of Pullorum Bacilli. Sur l'Agglutination du Bacillus pullorum. A. Staub. Comptes rendus de la Société de Biologie, 1935, Vol. 120, p. 341.

1. 1. The best agglutination takes place at a pH of 7.5–8.

2. 2. The reaction is of much more importanec in old serum than in fresh. In fresh serum agglutination is visible at a pH of 6 or 9 but not in old serum.

Regeneration of epithelium in vitamin A deficiency after administration of vitamin A. Epithelerneuerung bel A-Avitaminose nach Zufuhr von Vitamin A. O. Seifried. Inst. Animal Pathol., Univ. Münch., Archiv für wissenschaftliche und praktische Tierheilkunde, Vol. 69, 1935, p.250.

Leghorn chickens three weeks old received a diet deficient in vitamin A and showed the first macroscopic epithelial changes after an average of 33 days. The histology of the epithelial changes, Which resembled those in the rat, and of the curative process, on administration of vitamin A, is described.

Egg Farming. A practical, reliable Manual upon Producing Eggs and Poultry for Market as a profitable Business Enterprise. W. C. Thompson. Professor of Poultry Husbandry, Rutgers University and Poultry Husbandman, New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, New York. Orange Judd Publishing Company, Incorporated, 1936. Illustrated. pp. 300. 5½ × 8. Cloth $2.

Modern poultry and egg farming comprises an economically significant part of American agriculture. To earn profits in this business, however, every effort must be made to use efficient stock, maintain it in health and productive condition, feed and house it economically, and handle the products effectively. Business methods must be used. Every step must be based on sound, scientific methods. Eggs form a part of the daily diet of all people. There is a constant demand for good table eggs. Poultry farmers engage in an indispensable enterprise.