VEGETABLE PARASITES 



OF THE HUMAN SKIN. 



CHAPTER I. 



We have given an account of some of the most 

 common of the animal parasites which live on 

 and in the hnman skin. We now propose to 

 explain the vegetable jpar«527es which succeed •in 

 growing on and in the skin and its appendages — 

 the hairs and nails. They all belong to the class 

 of cryptogams and order fungi, like the common 

 moulds, seen to spring up and cover everything 

 where warmth, moisture, and a quiet resting-place 

 give opportunity for development. Whether they 

 all are the same, or different species, and whether 

 variety in soil and locality influences the form of 

 their development, we leave for botanists hereafter 

 to decide. It is enough for us to know that there 

 are microscopic vegetable organisms which ger- 

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