THE IDENTITY OF AMERICAN AND FRENCH 

 SPOROTRICHOSIS* 



DAVID JOHN DAVIS 



INTRODUCTION 



The reason for presenting this subject at this time will 

 no doubt be deemed adequate by those who have followed the 

 literature on sporotriehosis during the past several years. 

 This disease is known to be relatively common in France, 

 the number of cases observed now running into the hundreds. 

 In America the disease is being commonly reported in both 

 man and horses; the number of human cases now closely ap- 

 proximates a hundred, and several extensive outbreaks in 

 horses in different localities have been observed. 



The disease is known under the name of Sporotriehosis in 

 both countries. In France and generally on the continent, 

 also in certain other parts of the world, the cause is given as 

 the Sporotrichum beurmanni. In the United States the causal 

 organism is generally but not uniformly recognized as Sporo- 

 thrix schenckii. Certain writers here, now and then, refer 

 to the organism from American cases as Sporotrichum beur- 

 manni or as Sporotrichum schenckii-beurmanni. The impres- 

 sion is general on the continent and especially in France that 

 the American and French organisms are distinct and that 

 we have to do with two different though closely related dis- 

 eases. It is my purpose in this paper to analyse the existing 

 data and to present certain new data bearing upon this matter 

 of the identity or non-identity of these two infections. 



This discussion does not concern other distinct varieties 

 of Sporotricha either pathogenic or non-pathogenic. The ex- 

 istence of these is recognized. Many saprophytic sporotricha 



* From the Department of Pathology and Bacteriology, University of 

 Illinois ; College of Medicine, Chicago. 



