70 VEGETABLE PARASITES 



CHAPTER 11. 



We have explained what the vegetable parasites 

 were, where they come from, ancl how they pen- 

 etrate and develop in the human skin and its 

 appendages, the hair and nails. Xow we will 

 endeavor to explain more particularly the ap- 

 pearances on the general cutaneous envelope of 

 the body which are produced by the presence and 

 growth of these fungi or moulds, and also to teach 

 our readers how, if possible, to recognize their 

 existence, and the safest and best means of pre- 

 vention and cure. This is, however, by no means 

 an easy task, and we cannot hope to succeed so 

 well as we did in our books on the eye, and the 

 methods of restoring or preserving sight. The 

 reason is, the difficulty of describing a cutaneous 

 affection so that even those familiar with it can 

 recognize a given case. It is, however, quite 

 necessary that the community — the laity, as the 

 profession call them — should have some general 



