68 



CHAPTER X. 



DISEASES CAUSED BY FUNGI. 



Fungi were long regarded as the mere creatures of putrcs- 

 cence, and therefore as the consequence, not the cause of 

 disease. A more intimate acquaintance with their structure 

 and habits has, howevei% removed much of this prejudice, and 

 almost every one is now read}^ to acknowledge what a Aveighty 

 influence they have in inducing diseased condition, both in the 

 animal and vegetable world. 



A large treatise"^ has been written by Robin, relative to 

 their effects on animals, and there are multitudes of scattered 

 memoirs on the same subject ; but, unfortunately, the Fungi 

 which occur in the diseases of man, or other members of the 

 animal kingdom, have seldom been examined by persons inti- 

 mately acquainted with these Fungi, so that the species, or 

 even genera in question, are often donbtful. It is, however, 

 certain that many of those which are found on different parts 

 of the mucous membrane of animals, in a more or less ad- 

 vanced stage of growth, are, like the Fungi of yeast, referable 

 to common species of Mould. It is not probable that in 



* ' Histoiro Naturolle des Vegetaiix Parasites qui croissent sur rHomrae ot 

 sur Ics Animaux virants.' Paris, 8vo. 1853. Par Charles Robin. 



