250 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



Pathogenous Mould-Fungi.* —Whilst occupied with his researches 

 iuto the result of ureter ligature, L. Lichtheim constantly found that 

 in the kidneys whose ureter was bound filamentous fungi appeared, in 

 most cases limited to the renal basin, but in one instance growing 

 within the kidneys themselves and spreading fan-like from the papillas 

 towards the edge. The author's chief object was to determine whether, 

 in the cases under consideration, the fungus was an accidental importa- 

 tion which had adapted itself to the conditions of the body, or 

 whether he had to deal with some "j" peculiar and separate species. 



In repeating Grawitz's experiments, he found that Penicillium was 

 innocuous, while Aspergillus retained its virulence a longer time when 

 its culture was carried on at the temperature of a room ; it even de- 

 veloped spontaneously when grown in the same temperature. After 

 these results the only thing possible for him was to assume that the 

 virulence obtained by Grawitz by projiagation at the temperature of 

 the human body must have been the consequence of a constant im- 

 purity of his cultures. The intermediate forms which presumably 

 belonged neither to Aspergillus nor to Penicillium, were possibly 

 Oidium lactis. But the writer did not rest here, more especially since 

 Grawitz in his reply decidedly asserted that the patches whose spores 

 were injected were Aspergillus. This contradiction was however 

 explained when he discovered green Aspergillus-forras in which the 

 pathogenous qualities were wanting. These were distinguished from 

 the ra-dlignant Aspergillus hy the size and shape of the sporangiophore, 

 as well as the size of the spores. The mycelium was stouter, the 

 spores were about 14 /x wide, the sporangia were larger but less 

 regular, and formed only slight club-like protuberances, and the 

 sterigmata were often of considerable length. While the Aspergillus 

 hitherto experimented on exhibited strongly refringent thin-walled 

 conidia very like the PenicilUum-s\)ores, those of the new fungus were 

 often oval, somewhat thicker- walled, and much larger, the mean 

 measurement of the former being 2*5-3/x, that of the latter 10-12 fx. 

 After repeated propagations, both still exhibited the same charac- 

 teristics. There was however a considerable variation in the condi- 

 tions of growth. Although the larger did not grow more quickly at 

 the ordinary temperature of a room than the smaller, yet it could not 

 be induced to germinate on moist bread, potatoes, and the like sub- 

 stances in the breeding-stove. Somewhat later was discovered, in 

 quinces preserved with sugar, a new but not injurious form. The 

 very large green sporangia are in these less crowded together than 

 in the pathogenous form. They have an extraordinarily broad 

 sporangiophore, large sporangia of very regular form, and strong 

 flask-shaped sterigmata. The conidia were round, very large (12-13 fx. 

 when mature), and distinguished by an extraordinarily thick 

 yellowish envelope which had a distinctly warty thorn-apple like 

 surface. From those kept in a warm atmosphere nothing came ; 

 those growing in the cold produced after six days the first conidia, 



* Berliner Klinisclje Wochenschr., 1882, pp. 129, 147. See Bot. Centralbl., 

 xi. (1882) pp. 65-8. 



t See this Journal, i. (1881) p. 278. 



