62 , ^^'^c Philippine Journal of Science ww 



composed of genera to certain of which organisms such as the 

 "bacillus" of tuberculosis and the "bacillus" of diphtheria are as- 

 signed. For the genus under discussion he adopts Nocardia 

 Trevisan, which he recommends for inclusion in the list of 

 nomina conservanda. H-e says, in effect, that systematic botany 

 need not concern itself with the "medical genus" Disco- 

 Tnyces, in which Rivolta combined, without mycological signifi- 

 cance, the parasites of actinomycosis, botryomycosis, and canine 

 pleurisy, nor with the genus Cohnistreptothrix, founded by Pinoy 

 upon bacteriological grounds, and that Nocardia remains the 

 valid name for the genus. As the Congress did not meet in 1915, 

 Vuillemin's recommendations have not yet been acted upon. 



Castellani and Chalmers have substituted, without discussion, 

 Nocardia for Discomyces in the second edition of their work. (14) 

 They remark that there are many points in favor of Pinoy's 

 subdivision of the genus, which probably would be soon generally 

 accepted. 



The most recent discussion of this question is in a study of 

 actinomycotic mycetoma by Chalmers and Christopherson,(l5) 

 who enumerate sixty-three species of Nocardia and eleven of 

 CohnistreptothHx. They argue the validity of Nocardia on the 

 grounds: (1) that it is the oldest name against which no objec- 

 tions can be raised; (2) that it has been formally adopted by 

 the Botanical Section of the First International Congress of 

 Pathology;' (3) that there are objections to the other names in 

 use. They eliminate Discomyces, because: 



Discomyces was used by Rivolta in 1878 merely as a trivial name, and 

 though it has not been applied to any other genus, still the word Disco- 

 mycetaceae was introduced in 1836 by Fries for a large fungal group and 

 has come into general use, and therefore has the double claim of priority 

 and general use, and as its type genus should bear the name Discomyces, 

 confusion is bound to arise if the same term is retained for the generic 

 name of Bollinger's organism. 



The value of these objections will not be discussed at this 

 point. 



SUMMARY 



The source and present status of the various names that have 

 been applied to the organisms of this group may be summarized 

 as follows: 



Cladothrix Cohn (1875). This name was used as generically 



' This probably refers to the Congres international de pathologic com- 

 paree, organized by the Societe de pathologie comparee, the first and as 

 yet only meeting of which was held at the Faculty of Medicine, University 

 of Paris, in 1912. 



