CHAPTER I 



Historical Review 



THE name of Sabouraud is prominent in any discussion on the develop- 

 ment of the science of mycology. With the publishing of his book, Les 

 Teignes, in 1910, the subject was demonstrated to be on a sound and prac- 

 tical basis. The interest engendered by this well written and beautifully 

 illustrated book has continued to the present time. Sabouraud's researches 

 brought mycology back to the attention of physicians when it had been 

 almost forgotten. 



This science is usually said to have begun as far back as 1677, when 

 Hooke, using a magnifying lens, found that yellow spots on roses con- 

 sisted of living threadlike organisms. In 1839 Langenbech described the 

 fungus causing thrush and Schoenlein the cause of favus. Gruby described 

 the cause of tinea circinata in 1842, and four years later Eichstedt found a 

 fungus in scales of tinea versicolor. Tilbury Fox described tinea pedis in 

 1870. The brilliant researches of Pasteur and his contemporaries had tem- 

 porarily caused mycology to be forgotten; as previously mentioned, it 

 remained for Sabouraud to focus attention on the scientific aspects of a 

 neglected subject. 



Since the publication of Sabouraud's book, the workers have been legion; 

 their progress cannot be concisely treated here with any justice to them 

 or to the related subjects. We shall attempt to bring out the sequence of 

 important advances under the respective headings. It would, however, be 

 unfair not to mention Whitfield who first determined the pathogenic role 

 of Epidermophyton inguinale in tinea pedis and whose formula is known to 

 physicians in all parts of the world, Castellani for his work on the tropical 

 mycoses, Jadassohn and Bloch for their researches, particularly in the im- 

 munology of fungous diseases, Miescher, Bruhns and Alexander for their 

 work on the dermatophytes and de Beurmann for his inquiry into sporo- 

 trichosis. 



Much of the best work in medical mycology has been undertaken in this 



