206 PROGRESS OF MICROSCOPICAL SCIENCE. 



in such a way as to make it coil up in circles. The rings of the 

 desquamated ciiticle are about a quarter of an inch apart. . . . My 

 impression is that it is a parasitic disease, but as yet I have not 

 succeeded in discovering any parasite ; nor can I speak definitely of 

 any treatment which has jiroved successful." It seems that the exist- 

 ence of the disease was noticed by the officers attached to the United 

 States' exploring expedition, under the command of Captain Wilkes, in 

 1841, who noticed it in the Kingsmill group, and spoke of it under 

 the designation of " Qune," and as, at some of its stages, resembling the 

 ringworm. 



"Dr. Mullen, of H.M.S. 'Cameleon,' has," says Dr. Fox, "been 

 good enough to forward me some facts about the disease, through the 

 courtesy of the Director-General of the Navy Medical Department. 

 He remarks that Dr. Turner has noticed, about three hours after the 

 application of sidphur ointment to the skin, some winged insects 

 bursting through the ointment and flying away. ' On scraping the 

 skin there were perceived dipterous insects, somewhat smaller than 

 midges, others still smaller, and what appeared to be the dipterous 

 insects in the pupa stage. Now these are not accidental accompani- 

 ments, for they have been found in all cases about three hours after 

 the ointment has been applied ; and the Eev. Dr. Turner has procured 

 " scrapings " from missionaries of other islands, who, by his advice, 

 have used the ointment, and has always found the same insects. It is 

 strange,' Dr. Mullen continues, ' that before applying the ointment no 

 trace of these insects, nor any pustules, papules, &c., indicating the 

 presence of such large parasites, can be discovered. Possibly they 

 may exist as ova in the under surface of the scales, which become 

 developed on the application of the ointment ; but is not this develop- 

 ment too rapid even for the insecta?' 



" I have received ' scrapings ' from the skin and a number of the 

 dipterous insects referred to in the above paragraph from Dr. Turner ; 

 and I now proceed very briefly to summarize the conclusions to which 

 I have come after a careful examination of them. 



" The disease is clearly a form of ringworm (tinea), dependent 

 upon the growth, amongst the cuticle cells, of a vegetable fungus. 

 The general features of the disease, in its mode of onset, its progress, 

 symj)toms, and naked-eye characters, are those of an exaggerated tinea 

 unquestionably. There are points of difierence, I admit ; but I will 

 refer to these in a moment. In the ' scrapings ' of cuticle I find 

 abundant evidence of a vegetable fungus of a most luxuriant kind. 

 Tfiis fungus exists in great abundance ; but, though so plentiful, its 

 presence may readily be overlooked, unless a very thin layer of the 

 ' scrapings ' is examined. Of the accompanying illustrations, one of 

 the figures [which we regret we do not possess] represents the fungus 

 magnified under a power of 500 diameters, and as drawn with the 

 camera. It will be noticed that the fungus elements are very large. 

 They bear, indeed, a resemblance to the parasite of the so-called 

 Eczema marginatum of the Germans. I am not at present prepared 

 to say whether the fungus is a modification of the trichophyton, or a 

 new and special one. I await further experiments, and do not propose 



