[Illustration: FIG. 123.--_Bacillus avisepticus_.] The disease is usually highly fatal. In the acute form the larger portion of the flock may die off within a week. In the subacute and chronic forms, the birds become greatly emaciated, and a few die off weekly through a period of a month or longer. _The tissue changes_ occurring in the disease are inflammation of all or a few of the internal organs. Ward states that the most characteristic lesion of fowl cholera is the severe inflammation of that portion of the small intestine nearest to the gizzard. Small hemorrhagic spots may be found on the heart and other organs. _The treatment is both preventive and curative_. The preventive treatment consists in quarantining newly purchased birds until we are satisfied that they are free from disease. The occasional disinfection of the poultry houses and runs is highly important. Cleaning the poultry house by removing the floor, roosts, or any part of the house for the purpose of removing all filth, and spraying the interior with a three per cent water solution of a cresol disinfectant, should be practised. Lime should be scattered over the runs, or the yards immediately about the house. The above preventive measures form an important part of the care and management of the flock. The carcasses of the dead birds should be burned. It is advisable to kill all birds that are fatally sick. All of the flock should be given antiseptics with the feed and water. Four ounces of a water solution of copper sulfate, made by dissolving one-quarter pound of this drug in one gallon of hot water, may be added to each gallon of drinking water. Frequent disinfection of the drinking fountains, feeding places and houses should be practised. DISEASES RESEMBLING FOWL CHOLERA.--There are a few diseases, such as septicaemia, limber neck and infectious enteritis, that are sometimes mistaken for fowl cholera. These diseases are caused by different microorganisms that may be found in the digestive tract and air-passages of healthy birds, insanitary conditions and decomposed feed, especially meat. It seems that under certain conditions, such as insanitary quarters and birds that are low in constitutional vigor and weakened from other causes, certain germs may become disease-producers. The death rate from mixed infections is very heavy in poultry. _The symptoms_ vary in the different cases. The disease may be highly acute, as in limber neck, or chronic, extending over a period of a week or more. Diarrhoea is not a prominent symptom in the majority of cases. The post-mortem lesions vary from a hemorrhagic to a chronic inflammation of the different body organs and serous membranes.