FUNGI IMPERFECTI— FUSARIUM 295 



begun on June 30. It was observed that after three weeks there were no 

 notable changes except a gain in flesh. 



It seems to me that there can' be no question from these experiments that 

 mouldy corn is dangerous to feed to animals. 



Oxen, sheep, and dogs are also affected with a form of meningitis, due 

 to mouldy conditions. Of course, it should be stated that in the above descrip- 

 tion by Dr. Law, no special mould fung-us is referred to. 



Fusarium cquinum, Norgaard. Itch Disease of Horses 



Mycelium immersed, septate and branched; conidia in cultures sickle- 

 shaped, segmented ; in hair sacs and sebaceous glands spindle-shaped or 

 crescent-shaped bodies. 



Drs. Melvin and IMohler supplement the above characters as follows : 



The Fusarium possesses three forms of spores, the microconidia small and oval, 

 non-septate or two celled; the marcroconidia, large falcate, with sharp lanceolate ends, 3-5 

 septate, forming many aerial threads; 25-55 p, long 2]4-4y2 fi wide; the chlamydospores oval 

 or oblong, thin walled, densely granular, 8-15 ^ in diameter. The macroconidia occur 

 during the later stage of growth. On culture media there is a white growth which becomes 

 slightly colored. The most favorable medium is potato and sterilized bread, but it grows- 

 well in agar, glucose, or saccharine agar. 



Distribution. North America, California to Idaho. 



Pathogenic properties. In December, 1901, Victor A. Nbrgaard con- 

 tributed to Science an account of a disease affecting horses, said to be pro- 

 duced by a fungus to which he suggested that, pending investigation, the name 

 Fusarium equinuii;, nov. spec, be given. The following is an abstract of the 

 article in question : 



An epidemic skin disease appeared among the horses on the Umatilla Indian Reserva- 

 tion, Pendleton, Oregon, upwards of sixty percent out of six thousand horses having been 

 affected. The disease manifested itself through severe itching and loss of hair over almost 

 the entire body. Many of the animals died of starvation. An examination of samples of 

 the skin was made in the Pathological Division of the Bureau of Animal Industry and the 

 presence of Sarcoptes equi observed. However these parasites were not present in sufficient 

 numbers to account for the almost complete alopecia, and examination of samples almost 

 entirely denuded of hair failed to show their presence. Microscopic examination of sec- 

 tions of the skin stained with borax blue showed the presence of large half-moon, spindle 

 shaped bodies, deeply stained, , in the hair sacs and sebaceous glands. Further culture- 

 produced from one to five circular colonies of a fungus which grew rapidly and assumed 

 a salmon pink color. Cover-glass preparations made from these colonies contained numerous 

 sickle-shaped segmented spores, characteristic of Fusarium. Of the twenty-five known vari- 

 eties of this fungus, according to Dr. Erwin F. Smith, hitherto none has been known to 

 be pathogenic to animals. 



Drs. A. D. Melvin and J. R. Mohler have given a somewhat more extended 

 account of this form of dermatomycosis. They found present with the disease- 

 the Sarcoptes scabei. In 1901 the disease appeared in a very aggravated form, 

 some 2,500 animals were diseased out of 6,000 animals on the Umatilla Indian 

 reservation. It is supposed that this disease was introduced from California 

 in 1902 from trailed horses. It appears that the fungus apparently enters the 

 hair follicles, penetrates between the cells of the epidermis or abrasion of the- 

 skin and involves the surrounding cuticle, causing irritation, followed by pruritis, 

 the animal attempting to rub itself against anything with which it comes in con- 

 tact. When the scurf is rubbed off by the finger nail there is left in its place a red 

 moist denuded surface. It affects almost the entire body except the knees and 

 hocks. The crusts are of gray color at first but turn darker. When the tissue- 



