ASPERGILLUS FUMIGATUS, A. NIDULANS, A. TERREUS N. SP. 95 
Aspergillus nidulans Series 
Eidam (loc. cit.) in 1880 described A. nidulans as obtained from 
the nest of some type of wasp or bee in the botanical garden at Breslau. 
Conidial forms corresponding to Eidam's figures and description have 
been found in many situations since that time. Members of this 
series have been shown to be pathogenic, by animal inoculation. As 
far as tested, they all grow at 37° C. or higher, Saito^^ has reported 
them from the air in Japan. A. nidulans var. nicollei has been de- 
scribed as a cause of disease in man. Forms with this morphology 
have been repeatedly isolated from soil in various parts of America 
and by us from soil-polluted substances. This conidial type appears 
to be cosmopolitan and in America, at least, a characteristic in- 
habitant of the soil in which experiments show its ability to multiply 
(see table). 
The ascospore of A . nidulans repeats the general structure originally 
described by DeBary^^ for A. repens. It is more or less lens-shaped. 
When such an ascospore germinates the purple cell wall separates 
into two valves like those of a shellfish. These sometimes remain 
in contact at one edge but commonly remain attached to opposite 
sides of the germinating cell as figured by Eidam. Eidam reported 
no markings upon these ascospores. Grijns found a single equatorial 
band where the two valves meet. Vuillemin reports this band as 
double. One of our cultures shows a slight equatorial furrow with 
traces of a ridge in each side — approximately the form of the ascospore 
in A. repens. In all other cultures observed, there are two definite 
bands of varying width between which is the line at which the valves 
separate. These bands and the surface markings on the valves when 
present have the appearance presented by the wrinkled, folded, or 
at times closely fitting primary wall of the conidium as described for 
Penicillium by Thom^^ and for A. niger by Thom and Currie.^^ 
Aspergillus fumigatus has strictly a single series of sterigmata or 
conidia-bearing cells upon the vesicle. A. nidulans, on the contrary, 
has both primary and secondary sterigmata in every head, hence has 
22 Saito, K. Untersuchungen iiber die atmospharischen Pilzkeime. Journ. 
Coll. Sci. Imp. Univ. Tokyo 18: 1-58. 1904. 
Loc. cit. 
24 Thom, C. Conidium formation in Penicillium. MycoU gia 6: 211-215. 
1914. 
25 Thom, C, and Currie, J. N. Loc. cit., p. 7. 
