278 DR BENNETT ON THE PARASITIC 1 VEGETABLE STUCTURES 



BATEMAN. He shews, 1st, That this disease consists in the aggregation of millions 

 of mycodermatous plants. They are formed of articulated filaments of a diameter 

 from j^ og to gfo of a millimetre ; they spring from an amorphous mass of which 

 the periphery of each capsule of Tinea is composed, and give off towards its centre 

 oblong or round homogeneous corpuscles, which are the reproductive spores. The 

 longitudinal diameter of the sporules is from 555 to jgg of a millimetre, and the 

 transverse is from ^ to ^ The cells of the tubes sometimes contain small 

 round transparent molecules, of a diameter varying from jg^g to j^g f a milli- 

 metre. "2dly, The seat of these vegetations is in the cells of the epidermis. The 

 true skin is compressed, not destroyed ; and the bulbs and roots of the hairs are 

 only secondarily affected. Sdly, The disc of the capsule, which is not at the com- 

 mencement perforated, opens by a small hole in the centre. This enlarges, and 

 the plants push through it, so that, at a more advanced period, instead of there 

 being a central depression in the capsule, there is a convexity, and its edges dis- 

 appear. 4thly, He inoculated 30 phanerogamous plants, 24 silk- worms, G reptiles, 

 4 birds, and 8 mammifera, but only induced the disease once, and then in a plant. 

 The human arm was inoculated five times, but, independent of a slight inflamma- 

 tion and suppuration, no effect was produced. 



On reading the above observations last autumn, I examined the crusts on the 

 head of a boy who laboured under the disease, and immediately detected the 

 cylindrical and ramified appearances described by M. GBUBY. With a view of de- 

 termining the real nature of this affection, and observing the manner in which 

 the fungi germinated, I was desirous of making a few observations on this case, 

 and Dr HENDERSON, who had charge of it, obligingly consented to suspend for a 

 time all active treatment. 



Observation 1st. All the crusts were removed from the head by the applica- 

 tion of poultices. In a few days the scalp was quite clean, presenting here and 

 there anteriorly patches about the size of half-a-crown deprived of hah 1 . In these 

 bald portions of the scalp the skin looked somewhat injected and glossy on the 

 surface ; but there was no pain on pressure, no abrasion in the skin, or other 

 symptom of inflammation or local lesion. The disease was now allowed to take 

 its natural course, and I watched its development daily. In two days, minute 

 pustules were observed to be thinly scattered over the surface, the contents of 

 which, when examined under the microscope, were found to consist of normal 

 pus. In two days more, the number of pustules had considerably increased, and 

 those formerly observed had become larger. I surrounded several of the latter 

 with a ring of ink, in order that there might be no difficulty in following the 

 changes they underwent, and distinguishing them from others. In another day 

 two of them broke, and the matter exuded formed a scab, which, under the mi- 

 croscope, was found to be composed of epidermic scales and irregular amorphous 

 masses, without any trace of vegetable structure. In the interstices of these scabs, 



