f 199 ) 
A SHOET NOTE ON THE OCCUEEENCE OF ASPEEGILLOSIS 
IN THE OSTEICH IN SOUTH AFEICA. 
By James Walker, M.E.C.V.S. 
(Eead October 16, 1912.) 
(Plates IX., X.) 
Introduction. 
Numerous observations have shown that certain fungi belonging to 
the group Eumycetes are pathogenic for birds and may participate in an 
extensive internal process, as in the case of Pulmonary Mycosis (Pneumo- 
mycosis) or in a generalised infection in which the spores are probably 
carried by the blood stream, lodging in various parts of the body and pro- 
ducing serious lesions, and although in most cases no careful species 
examination was made, in all probability Asijergillus fumigatus was the 
species responsible. 
The first recorded case of Pneumomycosis was observed in 1815 by 
Meyer in a jay. In 1841 Aspergillus infection was detected in the fowl ; 
and later, cases were signalled in the pheasant, turkey, pigeon, duck, 
goose, swan, &c. This disease has also been recorded in the ostrich in 
America. 
Existence in South Africa. 
There is no doubt that Aspergillosis has existed in South Africa in 
the ostrich for some time, but, so far as the writer is aware, no cases 
have actually been recorded. In May, 1912, the writer observed the 
disease in an adult ostrich (No. 6) ; this bird was in experiment, and on 
post-mortem examination nodules were noted in the lungs and intestinal 
tract and a fungus growth was present in the hollow cavities of the bones 
of the sternum anteriorly. Since then cases have been noted in the 
Bedford, Albany, and Alexandria districts of the Cape Province, and 
there are reasons to suspect that it enjoys a wide range of distribution. 
