182 The Philippine Journal of Science ms 



changes in the denser of these nuclear fragments there developed 

 bodies that are, I believe, not referable to changes induced by 

 the media alone. These were firm, oval or round bodies, deeply 

 staining by Loeffler's methylene blue and similar stains, clear-cut 

 in outline, an appearance that suggested parasitic fungous 

 elements. 



In one culture only from each of two cases of the series there 

 was finally found a definitely fungous element, a Cryptococcus. 6 

 In one case it was found after cultivation for six weeks on 

 nutrient prune agar, but in the other only after seven and a 

 half months on culture media, three months on a banana cylinder, 

 and four and a half months on nutrient prune agar. 



The source of the Cryptococcus is not clear. No similar or- 

 ganism is to be found in earlier smears from those cultures in 

 which it developed. Difficult as it may be to accept, there seems 

 to be a direct parental relationship on the part of the described 

 basic bodies. Certainly it is not possible to differentiate between 

 some of the typical basic forms and some of the more intensely 

 stained fungus cells. 



The significance of the fungus depends, of course, upon its 

 source. On the evidence it cannot be proved to be essential in 

 the lesion, though the conditions under which it developed led 

 me to believe this to be the case. To establish this as a fact, 

 cultivation of the organism in sufficient amount to permit the 

 production of experimental lesions with it would be necessary. 

 Though the material available, in large part bacterial growth, 

 was expended entirely in attempts at subcultivation, this was 

 not accomplished. Animal experimentation could, therefore, 

 not be attempted. 



To deny this organism an essential role, one must assume it 

 to be a contaminant, either of the lesions or of the two cultures 

 involved. If it was in the original material as removed from 

 the lesion, it certainly was not evident at the time. Further- 

 more, had this been the case, it or some recognizable precursor 

 should have appeared earlier in those cultures containing it and 

 in more of the cultures made from the tissue fragments in those 

 cases. 



' The genus Cryptococcus Kiitz. 1843 includes organisms that reproduce 

 by budding only; they do not produce mycelia, or spores. In this group 

 fall, in default of essential information, the degraded yeastlike forms 

 that may be adopted, with more or less permanency, by higher fungi of 

 widely diverse classification. 



