88 CUTANEOUS 



time in which we live, there has arisen almost a new sci- 

 ence, founded on the discovery that many cutaneous dis- 

 eases, some maladies of the mucous system, and" a nflmber 

 of the disorders of insects and reptiles, seem to be pro- 

 duced by vegetations in the living tissues, by which com- 

 fort is impaired and sometimes life 'sacrificed. 



Caffort alleges, that the agaricus fimetarius is found in 

 ill-conditioned wounds (Annal. de Montpelier, 1808), and 

 Mery and Lemery cite cases where fungi grew on the skins 

 of animals, even when not w r ounded or ulcerated. Schoen- 

 lein and Remak observed, and Fuchs and Langenback 

 confirmed the observation, that forms, apparently vegeta- 

 ble, and of a fungiform structure, rooted themselves in 

 the skin of porrigo favosa. Gruby subsequently investi- 

 gated the subject more fully, and alleged that the crusts 

 of porrigo are almost entirely composed of the plants. 

 The vegetable nature of the disease seemed to be esta- 

 blished by the transfer of it by inoculation to a phanero- 

 gamic plant, thus imparting to a vegetable a disease con- 

 tagious in man. 



Since these striking discoveries have been made, micro- 

 scopists have detected vegetations in porrigo lupinosa, 

 impetigo scrofulosa, serpiginous ulcers, sycosis menti, and 

 porrigo decalvans. To the latter, Gruby has given the 

 name of microsporon andouini, in honor of the able writer 

 on the muscardine of the silk-worm. We have now to 

 encounter among the phenomena of disease, porrigophytes, 

 mentagrophytes, &c. &c. Each disease has its fungus, 

 perfectly characterized by form, habits, position and pro- 

 pagation. For example, porrigophytes are seated in the 

 cells of the epidermis, while mentagrophytes reside in 

 follicles between the hair and the walls of the follicles. 

 The former have a proper capsule, are very rarely granular 



