The Weight and Composition of Eggs. Das Gewicht der Eier und ihrer Bestandteile während des Jahres und des Lebens bei Hennen. J. Podhradsky. Sbornik Ceskoslovenske Akademie Zemedeske, Vol. 11, 1936, p. 601.

In completion of former reports on this question it was ascertained that theresults partly confirmed the statements made by writers up to the present, namely, in so far as my experiments show.

1. 1. In the first year two big increases in weight take place, in spring and in autumn. These increases are followed by decreases which are generally underbroken by a smaller deviation, e.g., in April-June.

2. 2. In the first year these deviations occur both in albumen and shell and sometimes (contrary to what Philpott states) in the yolk.

3. 1. The following years show a similar cycle: the course of some of the curves is, however, less regular. The weight often begins at a higher level—mostly in older hens which have been laying for some years—but sinks progressively in the course of the year and is often underbroken by smaller deviations.

1. 1. The connection between the rate of maturity (number of days between birth and production of the first egg) and egg production of 938 White Leghorn pullets, hatched and reared on the Experimental farm of the Oliefabrieken Calvé-Delft was investigated. The pullets were of various strains and received widely differing treatment as regards feeding.

2. 2. There is a curvilinear correlation between rate of maturity and to talproduction and also between rate of maturity and winter production. It is, therefore, not correct to calculate with rectilinear correlations or regressions.

3. 3. The conditions, obtaining during the rearing, influence not only the rate of maturity, but also the connection between the rate of maturity and egg production.

4. 4. It is, therefore, impossible to state any generally acceptable rules concerning the way in which the existing connection can be used to raise the average production by the elimination of certain birds.

5. 5. Even when the pullets have been carefully culled either before or at the commencement of production, it is possible to raise the average production still further by eliminating those birds, which come into production last. A considerable number of bad producers are found among the birds with the slowest rate of maturity.

6. 6. No connection was found between rate of maturity and mortality.

7. 7. Neither was there any connection between rate of nlaturity and the average weight of the eggs produced after December.

8. 8. For the 514 birds which began production after 30th September, 1935, a rectilinear correlation of +0.66±0.02 was found between rate of maturity and the average weight of the first ten eggs produced. The regression-eo-efficient of this “inception egg-weight” to rate of maturity in +0.16±0.02.

Examination of the Pituitary Membrane of the Throat in A avitamosis. Untersuchungen über die Histogenese der “Pusteln” der Schlundschleimhaut bei der Nährschädenerkrankung (A Avitaminose) der Hühner. L. Claussen. Deutsche Tierärtzliche Wochenschrift, Vol. 45, 1937, p. 161.

Description of the microscopic examination of the typical changes in the pituitary membrane of the throat in A avitaminosis. The festerings are caused by regressive changes of the pituitary membrane glands. The epithelium and the dividing walls of the glands are destroyed, the gland content becomes full of congealed exudate and tissue remains and this mass is extruded in a cheese-like lump. Inflamn1atory processes are not present.

The Effect of the Administration of Large Amounts of Vitamin A on the Vitamin A Content of the Hen's Egg. E. M. Cruickshank and T. Moore. Biochemical Journal, Vol. 31, 1937, p. 179.

The administration of cod liver oil to a laying hen at the rate of 10 per cent. of the diet, which was otherwise low in vitamin ‘A’ and carotene, caused the vitamin ‘A’ content of the eggs, as determined by the antimony trichloride method, to be doubled. The vitamin ‘A’ content of the egg resumed its normal level soon after the withdrawal of the cod liver oil from the diet.

Rapid Blood Test and Slow Serum Test in combating Pullorum Disease. La Siero-agglutinazione rapida e lenta nella diagnoso della pullorosi. Dr. F. Cattaneo. Rivista di Avicultura, 1934, p. 338.

1. 1. The sero-diagnostic tests represent the simplest and surest method of ascertaining infection with B. pullorum in hens.

2. 2. The rapid blood test, which makes it possible to isolate infected birds immediately, gives satisfactory results, but only when the treatment is applied by persons completely at home with the technique thereof.

3. 3. The slow test and the rapid test give similar results when applied with technical precision.

4. 4. Compared with the slow test the rapid test has undoubted advantages.

A Study of Naturally Infected Field Cases of Avian Typhoid. H. C. Gauger. North Carolina Station Technical Bulletin, No. 53, 1937.

Studies on seven fatal and eight carrier cases of avian typhoid contracted under natural conditions are reported, the details being given in numerous tables. “The external symptoms in the naturally infected field cases as received in various stages of the disease did not vary to any marked extent [from] external symptoms already recorded by other workers. It was possible to recover S[almonella] gallinarum from the blood stream with relative frequency during the fastigial or high fever stage of the disease…. Cases under study yielded S. gallinarum in droppings during the stages of fastigium, decline, and convalescence, indicating the possibility of the perpetuation of S. gallinarum infection of the premises by birds in these stages of the disease. In these studies S. gallinarum was present in relatively large numbers in the fluids of the eyes, posterior nares, and pharynx during the fastigial stage….

Reaction of white and yolk during incubation. Die Reaktion verschiedener Komponenten in den Hühner- und Enteneiern im Zusammenhang mit dem Stoffwechsel des Embryos während der Brut. N. M. Schkljar. Archiv für Geflügelkunde, Vol. 10, 1936, No.1.

1. 1. In the first 3–4 days of incubation the alcalinity of the white increases; afterwards alcalinity decreases again, but not down to neutral.

2. 2. The yolk shows a slightly acid reaction at the start; at the termination of the incubation the reaction becomes fairly alcaline.

3. 3. The pH of the amnionliquid varies during incubation, never becoming more than slightly alcaline.

4. 4. In the beginning this liquid is alkaline (pH > 8). From the 16th day the reaction becomes acid, and in our investigations it reached a pH of 5.632 at hatching time.

5. 5. The pH differs in different organs of the embryo, during its development the different organs become more and more acid in different degress. This increase in acidity is most striking in the glandular part of the stomach.

6. 6. The acid reaction of the stomachcontent becomes pronounced in the last days of embryonic life, expressing itself in a progressive of H-ion concentration.

The vitamin A requirements of the laying pullet. W. C. Russell, C. S. Platt, M.W. Taylor, and D. F. Chichester. New Jersey Stas. Circ. 369, 1936.

In the experiments herein reported seven pens of healthy pullets reared on range were started on experiment late in August and continued under confinement for a 12-mo. period. All lots received essentially the same basal ration, but the proportions of yellow corn and white corn and the supplements of alfalfa meal, vitamin A concentrate, and fresh green feed were varied so that the U. S. P. units of vitamin A per pound of feed were 400, 700, 1,300, 2,200, 3,800, 4,100, and 30,000 for lots 1 to 7, respectively. Data are reported on the percentage mortality, live weight changes, egg production, hatchability of eggs, mortality of chicks during the first 2 weeks of life, and vitamin A storage in the livers of the hens.

Laying Tests in Germany. Jahresbericht über die deutschen Legeprüfungen für Hühner 1935–36. Dr. K. Taut. Archiv für Geflügelkunde, Vol. 11, 1937, No. 5.

There were organised 5 laying tests and 4 flock production tests; they were held from October 16th, 1935, to September 30th, 1936—351 days.