Aspergillosis of the lungs is a disease caused by an exceedingly common mold, Aspergillus fumigatus. It is a disease which clinically and pathologically so closely resembles tuberculosis that it usually escapes recognition and is diagnosed as tuberculosis. This mistake may even be made at necropsies; for the ulcerations of the bronchi, the pneumonic and emphysematous areas, the cavities and pleurisies are much the same in one disease as in the other.
There is a common belief that this mold is purely saprophytic; that it can live only on preexisting lesions in the lungs; that it cannot attack living tissues because it has no primary pathogenic powers. To show its pathogenic properties, nine rabbits were inoculated intravenously with varying doses of spores, from a pure culture of Aspergillus fumigatus furnished by Dr. Thom of Washington.
In March, 1926, the pathologist of the Flagler Hospital, St. Augustine, Fla., inoculated three rabbits. One