48 



THE ACTIXOMYCETES, Vol. I 



FiGi RE 20. Typiciil growth of ;i meinl)er of the genu.s Nocardia. 



Nomenclature, two generic names, if differ- 

 ing even by one letter, are to be regarded as 

 distinct. It was finally decided that the 

 generic name Nocardia should not be applied 

 to the group of actinomycetes as a whole, as 

 suggested by Trevisan, but should be limited 

 to only one of the genera of the group, as 

 will be shown later. 



Sauvageau and Radais, in 1892, placed the 

 actinomycetes among the true fungi, namely, 

 the Hyphomycetes in the genus Oospora. 

 Only a year before, Thaxter (1891) described 

 the causative agent of potato scab, which is 

 a true actinomycete, as Oospora scabies. 

 Thaxter himself, however, used this name 

 only provisionally, since he expressed doubt 

 as to the correctness of this designation. 

 Oospora, as described by Saccardo, is now 

 recognized as standing for a true fungus, 

 (liissow, who analyzed this name in detail, 

 looked upon the actinomycetes as belonging 



to the filamentous "higher bacteria," or the 

 Chlamydobacteriaceae ; he remarked quite 

 correctly that, "On endeavoring to place the 

 organism in its proper genus, we found our- 

 selves confronted by one of the most perplex- 

 ing problems of botanical nomenclature, 

 which promises a rich harvest to those who 

 are fond of such study." Even prior to that, 

 namely in 1898, Lachner-Sandoval pointed 

 out the marked morphological differences 

 between Oospora and the actinomycetes. 



In 1897, Migula considered the name 

 Cladothrix Cohn as a proper designation for 

 the actinomycetes. However, the cladothrix 

 group includes certain higher bacteria (C. 

 dichotoma) definitely distinct from the acti- 

 nomycetes; it represents organisms consist- 

 ing of chains of cells surrounded by a sheath 

 and showing false branching. Earlier, Ep- 

 pinger (1891) discovered an acid-fast actino- 

 mycete, which he believed to exhibit false 



