SPOROTRICHUM SCHENCKII 315 



ing sinuses. He found it in 47% of extirpated tonsils in Puerto 

 Rico. 



Meningitis and endocarditis are amon<? the occasional manifes- 

 tations of actinomycosis. In generalized actinomycosis evidence 

 indicates that the pathogen is spread through the blood stream. 



Emmons (1935) has shown that some of the confusion regard- 

 ing the causal fungus has arisen because it is a microaerophilic 

 species and must not be confused with aerobic contaminants. It 

 appears to be widespread on vegetation, so that it is inadvisable 

 to chew straws, sticks, weeds, or plant stems. Slight wounds ap- 

 pear to serve as portals of entry for the fungus into the tissues. 

 Further confusion in etiology arises because the aerobic species, 

 Actinomyces hominis, is primary in approximately 10% of Actino- 

 myces cases. 



Such generic names as Nocardia, Streptothrix, Oospora, and 

 Discomyces have been applied to this fungus. Some workers pre- 

 fer to use for it the name Actinomyces Israeli. An extensive bibli- 

 ography on actinomycosis exists. In a publication by Musgrave 

 and his associates (1908) that appeared in 1908 more than 1500 

 titles of papers on this disease are assembled. 



In the diagnosis of actinomycosis the presence of granulation 

 tissue and of pus-containing "sulphur granules" should be sought. 

 These granules are composed of radially arranged hyphae, which 

 are terminated peripherally by eosin-staining clubs, the clubs be- 

 ing sheathed hyphal tips. Emmons (1935) states that these clubs 

 are not formed within tonsillar tissues. Observations by Lentze 

 (1938), involving 55 cases of true actinomycosis, showed that 

 granules can be demonstrated in 80% of the cases. He placed 

 the pus in a drop of methylene blue and noted that the leucocytes 

 which take the methylene blue invest a cauliflower-shaped mesh- 

 work of threads whose periphery consists of bluish-green clubs. 



SPOROTRICHUM SCHENCKII 



A comprehensive account of the Genus Sporotrichum and the 

 clinical aspects of diseases it induces are contained in the mono- 

 graphic treatise by Beurmann and Gougerot (1912). One species, 

 .S. schenckii, first described by Schenck in the United States in 

 1898 [Emmons (1940)] is definitely pathogenic to man. Certain 

 other species, including 5. beiirmanni and 5. equi, are believed to 



