404 GENERAL SYSTEMATIC BACTERIOLOGY 



Jordan (1908) accepts Wright's conclusions, and separates Nocardia 

 with the definition "Filaments with true branches, with reproductive 

 elements or spores observed" from Actinomyces in which no such spores 

 are formed, 



Pinoy (1913, p. 929) proposed that Nocardia should replace the old 

 name Actinomyces and that a new name, Cohnistreptothrix be created 

 with Cohn's Streptothrix Foersteri as the type. 



Vuillemin (1913, p. 526) concluded that the name Nocardia should 

 replace all of these terms, and hsts it as a "genus conservandum" in 

 his group Microsiphones. 



Winslow et al. (Committee Soc. Am. Bact., 1917, p. 554) gave the 

 following definition. 



Branched filaments, resembling a mycelium, readily breaking up into segments, 

 usually saprophytic soil forms. Differs primarily from Actinomyces in the de- 

 velopment of aerial hyphae and conidia. Usually aerobic. Many are pigment 

 formers. Colonies as a rule mold-like on culture media. 



Merrill and Wade (1919, p. 64) reject the name in the following 

 statement. 



This name was adopted by De Toni and Trevisan to cover the entire group. 

 Blanchard used it for a time in its original application and Wright (1894) adopted 

 it for nonpathogenic strains only. As many other authors used it in one sense or 

 another, of late it has gained much prestige. Vuillemin, and Chalmers and 

 Christopherson have recently adopted it for the entire genus. 



The validity of this name we deny on the grounds indicated in the discussion 

 that follows. 



Castellani and Chalmers (1919, p. 1040) recognize the genus as the 

 type of their family Nocardiaceae. 



They give the following definition, designation of type, and reasons 

 for adoption of name: 



Nocardiaceae growing aerobically, usually easy of culture, and producing 

 arthrospores. 



Type Species. Nocardia bovis (Harz, 1877). 



Nomenclature. Bollinger's ray fungus (Nocardia bovis) belongs to a genus of 

 which the correct name is Nocardia Toni and Trevisan, 1889, a term derived from 

 Nocard, the celebrated French parasitologist, who was the first investigator to 

 clearly recognize this fungus in France. We state that it is the correct name for 

 the following reasons: 



1. It is the oldest name, against which no objections can be raised. 



2. It has been formally adopted by the Botanical Section of the First Inter- 

 national Congress of Pathology. 



