CHAPTER XXXV 



Mycosis of the Respiratory Tract 



Vegetable moulds, or certain species of fungi, are liable 

 to produce in Pheasants a diseased condition of some 

 portion of the respiratory tract, which also affects fowls, 

 pigeons, ducks, geese, swans, plovers, parrots, owls, bull- 

 finches, jays, and various other birds, to which the term 

 Aspergillosis is applied owing to the mould producing this 

 disease belonging to the genus Aspergillus, of which four 

 species have been recognised, both in their parasitic state, 

 and also as living upon decaying organic matter. Mycosis 

 of the air-passages was first of all observed in Pheasants 

 by Robin in 1848, and by Rivolta in 1887, but the first 

 recorded case is that of Meyer and Emert observed as 

 far back as 181 5. Heat, moisture, and darkness are dis- 

 tinctly favourable to the growth of the mould, which is 

 extremely common in musty litter, and on mouldy grain, 

 soil, etc. Not uncommonly this trouble is spoken of as 

 "canker," an ambiguous term that may cover multitudinous 

 ailments, provided that the signs of the disease are local- 

 ised. The mucous membrane of the air-passages, providing 

 as it does both warmth and moisture, seems to constitute 

 a favourable medium for the growth of the spores, which 

 in all probability are inhaled. The symptoms indicative 

 of this trouble are difficult breathing ; the sick birds mope 

 about with eyelids half-closed, and yellow bunches of cheesy 

 material congregate about the mouth — in fact, the mouth is 

 sometimes completely filled with this yellow material, so that 



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