TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL REPORT 81 



It finally showed symptoms of chorea, which is a nervous condi- 

 tion frequently appearing weeks after a mild attack of distemper, 

 showing- that this animal was suffering from so mild a form 

 of distemper that when placed on exhibition, it did not betray it, 

 and yet was capable of giving the disease to other animals. 



Actinomycosis in Kangaroos. — Late in December a wallaroo, 

 one of the animals recently received from Australia, was found 

 to have some affection of the mouth. After the removal of the 

 animal to the operating room at the hospital for examination, 

 it was found to be suffering from actinomycosis of the jaw bones. 

 Several days later another case of actinomycosis was found in 

 one of the wallabies, that had come in the same shipment of ani- 

 mals. In the kangaroo, the disease runs a very acute and viru- 

 lent course, and in this respect simulates the disease as observed 

 in the prong-horned antelope. The disease is not contagious, 

 but the animals seem to contract it readily whenever the dis- 

 charges from the infected subjects are allow^ed to contaminate 

 the food of the healthy ones. 



Infectious Catarrhal Fever in Deer.-^During the past w\n- 

 ter an infectious malady affecting deer appeared in the Small- 

 Deer House, and caused the death of several animals. As the 

 disease is new to us, it is worthy of special mention. 



The disease, as seen in the sambar and sika deer, is char- 

 acterized by symptoms of an acute inflammation of the respira- 

 tory and digestive tracts. The contagious character of the dis- 

 ease is not well marked, but the infectiousness of the discharge 

 is well evidenced by the fact that animals in close contact or in 

 adjoining stalls readily contract it. 



The deaths occurring among mammals, were divided as 

 follows : 



Primates 63 



Carnivores 41 



Ungulates 43 



Rodents 35 



Marsupials 14 



Pinnipedia 2 



Edentates 2 



Total 200 



