NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 11 



graphical Distribution), the evidence furnished by the lower ver- 

 tebrates confirming that derived from the higher vertebrata and 

 the plants. There are fifteen species of Batrachia and Reptilia 

 not found in any other part of North America ; three of these occur 

 in Cuba, but none elsewhere. He then stated that Mr. Meek had 

 recently sent to the museum of the Smithsonian Institution a spe- 

 cies of Elaps, the E. distans of Kennicott, which had been known 

 previously from the Sonoran region only. This discovery might 

 be associated with that of the western burrowing owl in Florida, 

 and the fact that the Ploridan Ophibolus getulus presents the 

 same number of rows of scales as the black and white Ophiboli of 

 the Sonoran region. 



January 19. 

 The President, Dr. Ruschenberger, in the chair. 

 Twenty-four members present. 



On a Fungus in a Flamingo. Prof. Leidy remarked that a 

 pair of Flamingoes had recently died in the Garden of the Zoologi- 

 cal Society at Fairmount Park. Dr. Chapman, who had dissected 

 the birds, called his attention to the diseased condition of the lungs 

 of one of them, the other not being affected in this respect. The 

 posterior part of the lungs on both sides, contiguous to the abdo- 

 minal air sacs, was occupied by an indurated brown substance, in 

 striking contrast with the usual bright roseate hue of the neigh- 

 boring pulmonary tissue. An incision made into the indurated 

 substance exhibited a brown compact surface with greenish-black 

 dots which corresponded with the bronchial tubes. On micro- 

 scopical examination the substance was found to be pervaded with 

 a fungous vegetation, and the greenish-black dots were due to the 

 fruit heads profusely covered with colored spores. 



Prof. Owen, upwards of forty years ago, mentioned the existence 

 of a green mould he had observed in the lungs of a Flamingo, 

 which died in the menagerie of the Zoological Societ}^ of London, 

 but he gave no description of the plant by which we can recognize 

 it. Since then many accounts have been given of the existence 

 of fungous vegetation in the diseased lungs of various birds, but 

 I think it has not been determined whether the diseased condition 

 was due to the fungus, or whether this was a subsequent produc- 

 tion. 



The plant observed in our diseased Flamingo belongs to the 

 Moulds or Mucedines, and is evidently an Aspergillus. A number 

 of species of this genus have been described, growing on various 

 deca^ying substanees. The common Blue Mould found in cheese 

 and bread kept in a damp place, is the Aspergillus glaucus. From 

 this the mould of the Flamingo is quite distinct in the structure of 



