316 BACTERIOLOGY OF THE EYE 



found a grain husk adherent to the cornea, and enclosed in a bac- 

 terial mass consisting of the Bacillus xerosis. De Bono, in the Ann. 

 di OttaL, 1905, xxxiv., p. 946, found the Mucor mucedo in a ' pseudo- 

 membrane ' covering the cornea and only loosely adherent to it, 

 which healed without leaving any trace.) In the sequestrum which 

 is permeated with the mycelium the corneal lamellae are completely 

 necrosed. 



In most cases reproductive organs were not seen in the cornea ; in 

 Ball's case alone was there any hint of the presence of Aspergillus. 

 Recently Zade has reported the occurrence of fructification organs in 

 two cases on the surface of particles taken from the centre of the 

 affected area. The cases were characterized by their special chron- 

 icity, and the absence of any sequestrum formation. Eight animals 

 were inoculated with this Aspergillus, and in two of the cases Zade 

 found the fructification organs in the centre of the cornea. He states 

 that they could only be obtained with fresh material, and after con- 

 servation they readily disappeared. They first appeared at a late 

 stage, about the sixth day, and even then only on the surface and in 

 the centre. 



As a rule, the infection is due to earth or some vegetable substance. 

 In the single cases recorded by Uhthoff and Axenfeld, B. Kayser, and 

 Johnson, the foreign body was still visible in the sequestrum. I have 

 shown on other occasions, and would again note here, that there is a 

 mild form of keratomycosis, which when only superficially observed 

 appears like a dense infiltrate or a keratitis fasciculosa (see Fig. 68). 

 The three cases last mentioned were considered as such a keratitis, 

 but on closer examination I was able to demonstrate a peculiar small, 

 delimited nodule, in which the suspected mould was found. Martin 

 recorded a similar case. 



Cultures made with every precaution showed that these cases were 

 due to Aspergillus fumigatus. 



The Aspergillus fumigatus has the following characteristics : Besides 

 growing on the ordinary media, they will grow well on acid substances 

 (potatoes, bread-infusion, yeast). The young colonies are soft white ; 

 when the mycelium forms, the centre becomes greenish, then greenish- 

 grey, and finally the whole culture is smoky-grey, from the formation 

 of large numbers of spores. 



The varieties of Aspergillus are characterized by variations in the 

 spore-bearing organ. This rises out of the mycelium, and ends in a 

 knob bearing the radially-arranged ' sterigmen,' from which the spores 

 (conidia) bud off (cf. Fig. 62). The best method of examining speci- 



