302 MANUAL OF POISONOUS PLANTS 



Hyde and Montgomery state that there are at least two distinct and unrelated 

 forms capable of producing ringworm, the Microsporon adouini, a small-spored 

 fungus, and the Trichophyton, or large-spored fungus. The Microsporon appears 

 under the microscope in the form of a large number of round spores, irregularly 

 grouped or massed about the follicular portion of the hair. The mycelial 

 threads are all within the hair proper while the spores terminate fine threads 

 on the other surface of the shaft. The spores of Tricophyton vary greatly in 

 size and are much larger than those of Microsporon. They are cuboidal, oval, 

 or irregularly rounded. They occur in chains, up and down the hair or shaft. 

 The mycelium is found without, never within, the hairs. The spores may be 

 within (endothrix) or without (ectothrix). 



Oidium albicans. (Robin.) Rees. Thrush 



Forms a mould-like growth in the mouth of man and lower animals. 

 Vegetative cells, yeast-like, spherical, elliptical, oval or cylindrical, 5-6 p long, 

 4 M wide, the elongated hyphae-like bodies variable in length; conidia elliptical 

 in chains; grows well in nutrient media where it produces superficial, spherical, 

 white, wax-like, granular colonies, varying color from reddish to white; chlam- 

 ydospores in nutrient media and occasionally in the epithelial layer; it does not 

 ferment lactose and saccharose, but ferments levulose and dextrose. According 

 to Brebeck and Fischer there are two morphological forms of the organisms, 

 a small oval and a large-spored form; however, this distinction is not generally 

 recognized. 



Distribution. Widely distributed in the United States, also in other coun- 

 tries, Germany, Austria, France, Italy, and Great Britain. 



Pathogenic properties. John recognized the disease in 1816, while Buchner 

 gave a somewhat detailed description in 1841. Langbeck and Berg dicsovered 

 the fungus in 1839. It was thought by them that it was the cause of typhoid 

 fever. Langenbeck demonstrated that the Fungus could be carried from a 

 child, sick with the disease, to a healthy individual. Gruby, in 1847, described 

 the fungus under the name of Apthaphyta, placing it near the fungus Spor- 

 otrichum, while Robin, a French author on parasitic diseases, considered the 

 fungus to be an Oidium, naming it Oidium albicans, a name frequently used 

 by authors. Rees, however, placed it with the yeasts. Monilia Candida is re- 

 garded by Plaut and Lindau as a synonym. Grawitz, in 1877, made pure 

 culture of the fungus and succeeded in producing the disease in guinea pigs. 

 Klemperer found that when the fungus was inoculated into the circulatory 

 system of guinea pigs, general mycosis resulted. Limossier and Roux (1889- 

 1890) in their monograph, state that the mycelium occurs in the blood vessels 

 of inoculated animals. 



The fungus is very common in some sick chambers in regions where the 

 disease is prevalent. It is most abundant in sucklings. 



It occurs frequently in children of premature birth, and in weak children; 

 the fungus is also found in aged persons, suffering from disability; it occurs 

 chiefly upon the mucous membrane of the mouth, pharynx, and oesophagus; 

 more rarely, upon that of the stomach, intestine and vagina, and upon the 

 nipples of nursing women and bovine animals. It has also been found in the 

 liver, kidneys and lungs; it penetrates the epithelium and even into the under- 

 lying, connective tissue; it is spontaneous in such animals as calves, birds, and 



