356 



The Fungus Disease of India. 



[part II. 



nature are usually very transitory, but they may persist for weeks, as was exemplified 

 in the preparation referred to in the description of Specimen II (page 347), and they 

 may in some cases be even suffered to dry up more or less completely without losing 

 their peculiar forms. 



The physical conditions, moulding a plastic semi-fluid material into peculiar forms, 

 probably produce much the same effects, whether the material acted upon be endowed 

 with vitality or not, so that the close resemblance of these organic to truly organised 

 forms need be no special cause for surprise. We have, however, in the course of 

 investigation been more and more strongly impressed with the necessity of caution 

 in deciding on the nature of equivocal bodies merely from their outward appearance 

 and morphological characters, and we believe that this necessity is onew hich holds 

 good, not only in regard to the morbid products of the disease forming the subject of 



Fig. 8. — Various fungi-like forms assumed by " Myeline " x 500. 



the present report, but also with equal force to the interpretation of the appearances 

 present in many other cases, and specially in the so-called parasitic skin diseases. 



CHAPTEK V. 



PHYSICAL CHARACTERS AND INTIMATE NATURE OF THE RED PARTICLES OCCASIONALLY 

 ASSOCIATED WITH THE PALE VARIETY OF THE FUNGUS DISEASE OF INDIA, 



The peculiar red particles referred to as being present in Specimen VII (page 352) 

 demand more special consideration. As previously mentioned, on consulting the literature 

 of the subject, it will be found that they are of such rare occurrence in connection 

 with the disease that they can hardly be regarded as characteristic of it. Considerable 

 weight has, however, been laid on their occasional presence, in favour of the fungal 

 or parasitic nature of the degeneration, and we therefore gladly availed ourselves of 

 the excellent opportunities which we had of closely investigating their nature. 



