BLASTOMYCOSIS 547 



a central protoplasm without a nucleus, separated by a delicate 

 membrane from a surrounding clear space, and the whole is en- 

 closed in a highly refractile, double- contoured capsule. Budding 

 is frequently seen. The organisms stain with heematoxylin and 

 with aniline dyes and are Gram-positive, the reaction of the 

 capsule being variable. The organisms present in the generalised 

 infections are much more numerous in the tissues and attain 

 the size of 35 //,. In these also there are appearances in the 

 protoplasm which suggest endogenous sporulation. The facility 

 with which the fungi have been cultivated varies in different 

 cases, but growth can usually! ".be readily |*obtained at room 

 temperature or at 37 C. 

 on ordinary media, but / 



preferably on Sabour- ^ j r/y. 



aud's maltose medium, JSSdtr "^***5lk Jr*i 



especially when this is , 



made slightly acid. f^.*W^C* 

 Growth appears in from 4JJ? "f*" *%*** "3T5 * 

 two to seven days, and "^^^A^ f \ 



the characteristics vary. 5jpJy\ r , B% " -^Mj 

 In some cases moist, ^CT^S*/' Y^ < """*\ 

 paste-like colonies de- \^ X *""* % ^ .... x, 

 velop, in others the sur- 

 face appears crumpled 

 and sometimes it is dry 

 and powdery. These 

 differences are associated 

 with differences in the Flfl 173 ._ Micr08poron furfur; scraping from 

 degree of mycelial for- skin. Stained by Gram, x 1000. 



mation, in the extent of 



the ingrowth of the organism into the medium, and in the 

 presence or absence of aerial conidia. The effects of the 

 different varieties differ. Glucose and maltose are usually 

 fermented ; gelatin is ordinarily not liquefied ; and indol 

 formation is uncommon. In cultures, the budding seen in the 

 tissues is also observed, and there is a varying amount of forma- 

 tion of segmented and branching hyphae, this being particularly 

 well marked in certain cases and giving rise to a definite 

 mycelium. Somewhat slender aerial hyphse sometimes occur 

 which may form lateral spherical conidia, and sometimes ter- 

 minal bodies resembling ascospores. The elements in cultures 

 resembling those seen in the tissues frequently also possess a 

 double-contoured capsule. 



A considerable number of the organisms isolated are patho- 



