by 1896 he had constructed a fumigation chamber using hydrogen cyanide to sterilise imported plants - the first such government installation in the world - and by 1897 the first regulations controlling the importation of plants had been drafted. his first two or three years at the cape were devoted to plant pest control. by 1898 his interest in ticks as disease vectors had been awakened. his interests also extended to collecting fungi and other cryptogams. because of the limited space available at his office, lounsbury was obliged to house his tick host animals in a miscellany of buildings, such as builder's sheds, scattered over cape town. cattle, goats, sheep and dogs were kept without serious objections from neighbours or health authorities. only in 1903 was a stable to accommodate the animals built some miles out of town.