THE OCCURRENCE IN NATURE OF CERTAIN YEAST- 
LIKE FUNGI WITH REFERENCE TO THEIR 
POSSIBLE PATHOGENICITY IN THE 
HIGHER ANIMALS 
W. H. EMIG 
Formerly Rufus J. Lackland emie in the Henry Shaw School of Botany of 
Washington University 
INTRODUCTION 
The biologist who studies the diseases of man and the 
higher animals occasionally discovers a fungus that may 
have importance in connection with a particular malady. At 
first the association of fungi in animal tissues received only 
a passing notice, but later research indicated that in certain 
diseases fungi may play an important róle. These fungi not 
only affect animals as a result of their parasitic growth, but 
also as a toxin if consumed in large quantities on infected 
foods. 
Up to the present time there have appeared only two gen- 
eral reference texts dealing with the fungous parasites of 
man and the higher animals. Gedoelst (’02) in ‘Les cham- 
pignons parasites’ and Plaut (’03) in ‘Die Hyphenpilze oder 
Eumyceten’ discuss in a general way the subject of fungous 
parasites of animals, more particularly from a medical point 
of view. Both writers give historical accounts of the discov- 
eries and investigations on this subject from the time fungi 
were first recognized as agents in the production of disease. 
These books, published more than ten years ago, are the 
only general treatises that have appeared abroad, and there 
has not appeared any general work of American origin on 
these fungous parasites of the higher animals. Nevertheless, 
for the past few years there has been active investigation in 
this field, and a large amount of information has been pub- 
lished concerning more particularly the physiological rela- 
tions of parasite and host. 
The purpose of the present investigation is twofold. In the 
first place, it seems advisable to learn from the literature on 
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ANN. Mo. Bor. GARD., Vor. 8, 1916 
