Page:Condor15(6).djvu/35

Nov.,1913 REPORT UPON DISEASE AMONG DUCKS 223 infrequently their tails drooped in the xvat.er. These birds, becoming too weak to hold the head up any longer, naturally died by drowning. Some of the very sick birds would make no effort to move even when picked up, while others, though unable to walk or fly, would flap the wings, stretch the neck forward and quack violently. In a majority of cases where the sick birds could make no headway at all, they xvould open and close the mouths with a sort of hissing noise if a person came near. But as this was emitted at other times, it was plain that this was not a symptom of the disease. Temperatures of the sick birds were subnormal, ranging from 99 to Io 5 degrees Fahrenheit, while the nor- mal temperature is Io 7 degrees Fahrenheit. Postmortem examinations revealed less than one would naturally expect to find. There were no intestinal lesions or hemorrhages below the stomach. Most of the organs appeared nearly normal. tIowever, the stomachs were contracted, with rigid folds of the mucous membrane and muscles, and usually showed evi- dences of one or more hemmorhages, though not always. In most cases this in- ner lining, with parts separated from the tissues underneath, would shoxv patch- l?.lg. 74. DEPUTY GAME COMMISSIONERS MAKING CAGES FOR DUCKS TO BE K?PT UNDER EXPERIMENTATION; OCTOBER 24, 1913 es of a heavy necrotic growth and decomposition of the tissue. This was gen- erally accompanied by a heavy viscid mucus at the anterior opening of the stom- ach. As these and other minor symptoms indicated a slow poisoning of some kind, and as no disease-producing organisms could be located in the blood nor grown on agar, it was decided to carry on some experiments to determine if the water of Tulare Lake possessed the ingredients which were responsible for the malady. Consequently a camp was temporarily established for this purpose on Sep- tember 24 by deputy Fish and Game Commissioners Tipton Mathews and E. W. Smalley, on the north side of Tulare Lake. This camp was located near a small artesian well close to the southern border of a Kaffir corn field. It was just two miles from this camp to the edge of the lake. Three stations for carrying on ex- periments were established: one (A) at this camp, one (B) on the edge of the lake two miles directly south, and one (C) just one mile directly east of the sec- ond one (see fig. 72). W-ire cages, four to six feet long, three feet wide and three