56 '^he Philippine Journal of Science iwa 



HISTORICAL 



The phase of the confusion in which the characteristic of true 

 branching in these organisms was not appreciated began in 1875, 

 when Cohn(l8) described, among others, two organisms that he 

 made the types of new genera. One, which he named Clado- 

 thrix dichotoma, a colorless, filamentous plant found abundantly 

 in water containing decomposing algse, was characterized by a 

 false branching that he compared to that of certain algae; the 

 other, which, apparently in ignorance of Corda's(i9) previous use 

 of the same generic name, he called Streptothrix foersteri, was 

 a branching filamentous organism said to have been found first 

 by Graefe and then by Foerster in concretions in the lachrymal 

 canal of man and classified by Waldeyer as Leptothrix buccalis. 

 Cohn did not accept this conclusion, the mode of branching sug- 

 gesting the mycelium of fungi. It has been pointed out by 

 Sauvageau and Radais(56) that the distinction between his 

 Cladothrix and St7'eptoth7'ix was so clear to Cohn that in the 

 text he did not even compare them; furthermore, that his illus- 

 trations of them are quite distinct. They quote his diagnoses: 



Cladothnx — n. g. filamenta leptothricoidea tenerrima, achroa, non ar- 

 ticulata, stricta vel subundulata, pseudo-dichotoma. 



Streptothrix — ^n. g. filamenta leptothricoidea tenerrima, achroa, non ar- 

 ticulata vel anguste spiralia, parce ramosa. 



In his summary, however, Cohn did not clearly differentiate 

 them. According to Migula(44) he put them together among 

 organisms showing false branching, although indicating uncer- 

 tainty as to Sty^eptothrix by an interrogation point: 



Zellfaden durch falsche Astbildung verzweigt. 

 Faden cylindrisch, farblos — Cladothrix Cohn. 



Streptothrix? 



Cohn's later understanding of the morphology of the latter is 

 evident from Israel's article cited below. However, it is hardly 

 to be suspected from this arrangement that, as is now generally 

 recognized, the dividing line between the higher bacteria and 

 the lower fungi separates these two genera. 



Bollinger, in 1876, demonstrated the fungous nature of the 

 granules, or "drusen," from the lumpy jaw of cattle. Attempts 

 at cultivation and inoculation had been without result. In the 

 following year (10) he published a description in which he stated 

 that Harz, to whom he had submitted fresh material, had con- 

 cluded that the ray fungus (Strahlenpilz) belonged to the mold 

 fungi and that it was related to Botrytis, Monosporium, and 

 Polyactis; the name Actinomyces bovis was proposed for it. 



