BY T. HARVEY JOHNSTON, M.A., D.SC. 219 



Historical Summary : — ^A brief historical summary 

 has been reserved until now, in crder to simplify reference. 

 Only the main papers relating to Onchocerciasis in cattle, 

 more especially in Australian cattle, come in for notice. 

 The first published record was that by Morris in 1880 

 (1881, p. 337), though Gilruth and Sweet (1911, p. 1) have 

 been informed that the presence of nodules in the brisket 

 of Queensland cattle has been known for at least forty 

 years. In 1892, Gibson (1893, p. 576) communica,ted an 

 article to the Intercolonial Medical Congress, in which he 

 gave an account of the embryo and such facts of the female 

 worm as he could extract ; of the pathology of the con- 

 dition ; as well as of feeding experiments performed on a 

 dog, but with negative results. In the same year, T. L. 

 Bancroft referred to the presence of nodules in cattle in 

 Brisbane and Rockhampton. 



In 1893, Barnard and Park (1894, p. 642) read a short 

 paper, entitled " Notes on Spiroptera, associated with 

 Tuberculosis in Cattle," in which they give an account 

 of the result of an enquiry into the condition as affecting 

 Queensland cattle. The parasite was recognised as being 

 similar to Spiroptera reticulata {i.e., 0. reticulata), which 

 infests horses. No cattle under two years of age were 

 found to be affected, and this led them to suggest that the 

 worm probably takes at least a year to develop and cause 

 trouble. They thought that human beings might become 

 parasitised by infected meat or drinking water. The 

 disease was stated to be absent in Tasmania, but probably 

 present in South Australia. A short account of the 

 embryo and of a fragment of an adult was given. " A 

 section of a small tumour or nodule containing the worm 

 has a perforated or reticulated appearance, hence the 

 name Spiroptera reticulata " (p. 644). There seems to be 

 little doubt but that various tissues, some tubercular, 

 others actinomycotic, had become mixed with real " worm- 

 fibromata" (as De Does called them), hence the mistake 

 made by these authors in considering that degenerated 

 worm-nests commonly became the seat of tuberculosis or 

 actinomycosis. (C. and J., 1911, c, p. 93.) 



Similar information was published by Park, in Dec.^ 

 1893, in the Veterinary Journal (1893, p. 102), and in a 

 report to the Chief Inspector of Stock (quoted in Tryon, 



