MADURA DISEASE 555 



has been debated. Kanthack described the black variety as being 

 probably a late stage of the white. It seems, however, that the 

 co-existence of the two conditions in the same specimen is very 

 rare, and Boyce and Surveyor, 1 after a critical examination of a 

 large number of specimens, came to the conclusion that the black 

 variety is a distinct disease, and due to an organism belonging to 

 the group of the higher fungi, the black particles or masses being 

 the lignified mycelium or " sclerotium " such as is met with in 

 ergot. 



By planting out the granules from an early case of the black 

 variety Wright succeeded in cultivating a hyphomycete. 2 It 

 formed long branching hyphse, but no spore-bearing organs were 

 produced, and inoculation experiments on animals were negative. 

 It grew on potato as a dense, widely spreading, coherent, velvety 

 membrane, in colour pale brown with white periphery. Small 

 drops of brown, cofEee-coloured fluid appeared on the surface, and 

 the potato became brown throughout. On agar the growth 

 formed a meshwork of widely spreading greyish filaments ; in 

 old cultures (also in potato infusion) black hard granules, or 

 " sclerotia," were observed. In broth little balls of radiating 

 filaments developed. 



According to the classification here adopted, the classical white 

 variety of mycetoma (Madura disease) is, therefore, an Actino- 

 mycosis ; while the classical black variety is a Maduramycosis. 

 The common European, Asian and African forms of the latter are 

 caused by Madurella 3 mycetomi, which grows well aerobically at 

 37 C., forming when young a greyish-white mycelium which 

 darkens when older and stains the medium. The hyphse are 

 2-8 p., the spores 2-5 /u, in diameter. Black sclerotia 0-5-1-0 mm. 

 in diameter may be formed in the depths of the culture medium. 

 It is non-pathogenic to animals. But Madurella mycetomi is by 



1 Proc. Roy. Soc. Lond., 1893, and Phil Trans. Roy. Soc. Lond. 



2 Journ. Exp. Med., vol. iii, 1898, p. 421. 



3 The genus Madurella (Brumpt) contains fungi belonging to the Fungi 

 Irnperfecti. They are mucedine with white thallus, living parasitically in 

 animal tissues, possessing during vegetative life filaments with a diameter 

 greater than 1 M. The filaments are septate and branch from time to time 

 and secrete a brown substance. When old. sclerotia are formed, which may 

 become brown, and in which rounded corpuscles 8-30 M in diameter are 

 present. These are chlamydospores. 



