34 



PROF, H. G. PLIMMER ON 



due to trematodes and in three reptiles to worms, otherwise it 

 was pneumococcal. . There has been a slight increase amongst 

 the reptiles. 



5. The septicaemias were due to abscesses in two cases, to 

 extensive ulceration in two, and in one to a decomposing foetus. 



6. This rare infection of the lungs and air-sacs of a Pheasant 

 from Mongolia has been noticed only once before in the Gardens, 

 in a Hangnest from La Plata. The mite was a Gytoleichus. 



7. In these cases of nematode worm infection the lesions pro- 

 duced were very different; in a Lynx they caused a pseudo- 

 tubercle of the liver, in a Puma they caused perforation of the 

 stomach-wall and peritonitis, and in a Toad they produced a 

 pneumonia. 



8. There has been relatively a small increase in the diseases 

 of the respiratory organs amongst the mammals. They are, of 

 course, largely dependent on weather, and 26 of the cases 

 of broncho-pneumonia occurred in the last two months of the 

 year, during bad external conditions. Among the birds there 

 has been a considerable relative decrease in the deaths from 

 congestion of the lungs. 



9. There has been a considerable increase in the number of 

 cases of enteritis amongst the birds, but it has been of a milder 

 type. 54 of the bird cases were hemorrhagic ; in 4 worms were 

 the cause, and in 3 foreign bodies, and 2 were due to amoebae ; 

 during the last three months of the year 28 Parrots have died 

 from that specific kind of enteritis called Psittacosis. Of the 

 cases in mammals, 3 have been hemorrhagic, 4 associated with 

 ulceration of the intestines, and 1 was caused by foreign bodies. 

 The term enteritis covers ail inflammatory diseases of the intes- 

 tines, and as these are due to so many different causes it may be 

 worth while to mention them. In the Gardens I have found 

 five different varieties, which are due to the following causes : 

 1. Errors in feeding. 2. Foreign bodies. 3. "Worms. 4. Bac- 

 teria. 5. Protozoal organisms. Of these causes the first and the 

 fourth are the most important. 



10. There has been a considerable relative decrease in the 

 number of cases of nephritis. This word, like enteritis, covers 

 inflammations of the kidney which are due to various causes. 

 Nephritis can be divided, for purposes of classification, into acute 

 and chronic ; the former being due to infection, or to exposure, 

 and the latter either following the acute disease, or being due to 

 degenerative changes and associated with cardio-vascular changes, 

 with old-age changes, or the artificial old-age changes induced by 

 captivity. The absence of proper space for exercise must render 

 animals more sensitive to temperature changes, and especially to 

 draughts. 16 of the mammals had acute nephritis, and 18 

 chronic ; only 1 bird had acute nephritis, all the others being 

 chronic ; in all the 5 reptiles it was chronic. 



11. The three cases of cancer occurred in the liver, spleen, and 

 adjacent glands of an old Bear, in the liver and adjacent organs 



