BLASTOMYCETIC DERMATITIS. 



153 



the genus oidia, excepting those of Schenck and Hektoen, which 



have been classified by Erwin Smith as belonging to the genus 



Sporotricha, and 



named by him Spo- 



rothrix Schenckii. 

 Morphology.- As 



seen in the pus or 



tissues (Fig. 62) these 



bodies appear usu- 

 ally as spherical 



cells, measuring in 



diameter 10-15 P> 



possessed of a cell 



membrane about .5 



1.5 //- in thickness, 



their contents are 



made up of small 



and large granules 



of varying degrees 



of refractibility and 



vacuoles. No nuclei 



have been demonstrated. Budding forms (Fig. 63), resembling 



those of ordinary yeast 

 cells, are often met 

 with, and it would 

 appear as if budding 

 were the usual method 

 of reproduction; some 

 cells, however, contain 

 small round bodies, 

 which some have con- 

 sidered endospores 

 (Fig. 64), but when 

 brought into cultural 

 conditions these bod- 

 ies have remained 

 unaltered, and thus 



FIG. 63. Blastomyces dermatitidis (Gilchrist) : show it IS extremely doilbt- 

 ingthe budding form of the organism lying in the pus of f u l jf ffrev have anv 

 an abscess cavity x 1000. [By the kind permission of Dr. 



T. Caspar Gilchrist.] reproductive f unction 



FIG. 62. Blastomyces dermatitidis (Gilchrist): sec- 

 tion through an abscess cavity showing the organism with 

 doubly-contoured membrane X 1000. [By the kind per- 

 mission of Dr. T. Caspar Gilchrist.J 



