440 BACTERIA PATHOGENIC TO MAN 



As was first shown by Buchner, the fermentation is due to enzymes 

 produced by the yeast cells. These enzymes differ in the different 

 species, and hence also, their action differs. 



The pathogenic blastomycetes may be briefly summarized as fol- 

 lows: 



Saccharomyces Busse, isolated in 1894 by O. Busse from the tibia of 

 a thirty-one-year-old woman, who died thirteen months after the first 

 symptoms appeared. The autopsy showed numerous broken-down 

 nodules on several of the bones, in the lungs, spleen, and kidneys. 

 The yeast was cultivated from all these foci (Fig. 139). 



Saccharomyces subcutaneus tumefaciens, isolated in 1895 by Curtis. 

 The patient was a young man showing multiple tumors on the hips 

 and neck having the gross appearance of softened myxosarcomata. 



This yeast is pathogenic for rats, mice, and dogs, only slightly so for 

 rabbits, and not at all for guinea-pigs. 



Gilchrist has described a case of pseudolupus vulgaris caused by a 

 blastomyces. The disease lasted ten years, during which time many 

 nodules developed on the face, back of the hands, scrotum, thigh, and 

 neck. The nodules ulcerated and then healed, leaving scars. Busse 

 believes that this organism should be classed with oidium, and this 

 opinion is shared by Buschke. 



In a case reported by Hektoen in 1899 that author describes skin 

 lesions very similar to those observed by Gilchrist. The organism 

 obtained on cultivation, however, differed somewhat from Gilchrist's. 

 Injected into rats this yeast produced abscesses and caused the death 

 of the animal in five days. 



Lundsgaard reported a case of ophthalmia due to an yeast. His 

 patient, a man thirty-four years old, had a severe hypopyon keratitis, 

 in the pus of which many yeasts were present. Pure cultures of the 

 yeast inoculated into guinea-pigs produced abscess both at the site of 

 inoculation and in the lymph glands. 



Buschke isolated an yeast from a cervical discharge in which no 

 gonococci were present. The yeast was pathogenic for guinea-pigs. 



In 1895 Dr. G. Tokishige reported that an epidemic quite common 

 among horses in Japan, known as "Japanese worm/ 7 "benign worm," 

 or "pseudoworm," is caused by Saccharomyces. The disease begins 

 in the skin in the form of hard, painless nodules from the size of a pea 

 to a walnut. These break down and give rise to gradually extending 

 ulcers. Pure cultures of the Saccharomyces are pathogenic only for 

 horses, not for rabbits, guinea-pigs, or hogs. In the districts where 

 the disease prevails among horses it is also frequently seen in cattle. 



Shortly after Tokishige's publication a similar disease occurring in 

 horses in Italy and Southern France was identified as being caused by 

 Saccharomyces. Cultures of this yeast however, differ somewhat from 

 that obtained in Japan ; so that Busse is inclined to regard the two as 

 two different species of blastomycetes. 



In recent years the attempt has been made to connect the develop- 

 ment of cancerous growth with blastomycetes. This is due in a meas- 



