466 MEDICAL MYCOLOGY 



Audouini, EctotHchophyton granulosum, Megatrichophyton roseum, etc., which 

 before the war were confined to France and in some instances parts of the 

 Rhine valley, have now become fairly common and endemic in Germany, and 

 in some cases also in portions of the old Anstro-Hungarian Empire. Epstein 

 (1931) presents interesting statistics of the flora in Breslau 1918-1921 and 

 1927-1929. Ectotrichophyton mentagrophyies, E. granulosum, Trichophyton 

 flavum, and T. cerehriforme showed big decreases, E. mentagrophytes var. ra- 

 diolahom, other species of the Trichophyton flavum group, Megatrichophyton 

 roseum, Eavotrichophyfon violaceum, and species of Epidermophyton and 

 Achorion show large increases. 



Besides the local floras of Algeria by Catanei mentioned above, several 

 detailed one.s. have been prepared by various authors in Hungary and in 

 Germany. The German accounts probably do not present an accurate picture 

 of the normal endemic flora since several include periods in which there was 

 an epidemic, causing the relative numbers of some one species to be greatly 

 exaggerated. Thus, a subsequent author may present a very different picture. 

 Berde (1930) presents interesting data on local distribution in various por- 

 tions of Hungary. In America we have only occasional lists, mostly from 

 Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina. It is suggestive to note that the flora of 

 Montreal on the edge of French Canada contains several species which are 

 otherwise unknown outside of France. Similarly in Boston, most of the cases, 

 except those due to the genus Epidermophyton, occur on immigrants or chil- 

 dren of immigrants. In South America, Microsporum felineum is apparently 

 the commonest species reported, but since M. fulvum is not mentioned, one 

 cannot help Avondering if these cases should not be referred rather to M. 

 fulvum. From the published data, there is little opportunity to correlate the 

 organisms named with a possible source since I know of no extensive statistics 

 of the Iberian Peninsula. Catanei remarks that he found no tinea on children 

 of Spanish descent. Martins de Castro excludes all foreigners from his sta- 

 tistics of Sao Paulo, but, aside from the huge preponderance of M. felineum, 

 his statistics resemble those of Europe to such an extent that one wonders 

 if most of the species may not have been introduced during the immigration 

 of the last century. 



Another factor which should be considered is that in the above-mentioned 

 countries of America, the immigrant has a lower economic status and conse- 

 quently is often poorly nourished and more susceptible to these diseases. On 

 the other hand, to the Epidermophyton group, Avhich attacks the vigorous and 

 well nourished, the native Americans of the Avhite race seem as susceptible 

 as the immigrants. 



Physiology. — The first extensive paper dealing with the physiology of 

 these organisms was that of Verujsky (1887) who made a comparative study 

 of the physiology of Trichophyton tonsurans and Achorion Schoenleini, finding 

 a neutral or slightly acid medium and a temperature of about 33° C. the best 

 for growth. Biltris (1929) emphasizes the influence of small changes in pH 

 on the appearance of the giant colony in Achorion gypseum. Vamos (1932) 



