IDENTITY OF AMERICAN AND FRENCH SPOROTRICHOSIS 127 
It is pointed out that sporotricha, French, American and 
other strains, are especially subject to undergo pleomorphic 
changes, some of which are transient while others are fixed 
and permanent. De Beurmann and Gougerot themselves have 
ealled especial attention to this and admit that some of the 
pleomorphic alterations in the macroscopic growth of certain 
strains render them identical with the strain of Sp. schenckii 
as it exists today. Furthermore, Hektoen has stated that the 
culture as sent to them had changed in the seven year interval 
on artificial media especially in its ability to produce spores. 
This change is not an uncommon one in both American and 
French strains and no doubt was associated with other pleo- 
morphic changes. Yet de Beurmann and Gougerot and also 
Matruchot used this loss of ability on artificial media to form 
spores as a differentiating characteristic from their own Sporo- 
trichum beurmanni though they observed this same change in 
strains of the latter. There can be no doubt that pleomor- 
phic changes took place in Sporotrichum schenckii; and this 
is borne out also by the photographs in both Schenck’s and 
Hektoen’s papers which clearly show that at first both strains 
produced spores in large numbers. 
Changes in pigmentation are common in all strains of sporo- 
tricha; poorly or non-pigmented strains may arise from deeply 
pigmented strains and remain fixed. One would scarcely 
classify such an organism as sporotrichum on the basis of such 
a fluctuating character as pigmentation, though this property 
is mentioned by them as an important differentiating one. 
The statements of de Beurmann, Gougerot and Matruchot 
that the Sporotrichum schencktt (original) does not form 
chlamydospores must be considered erroneous. Under suitable 
conditions these structures have been observed by the writer, 
and these results were confirmed by Meyer, not only in the 
original Schenck-Hektoen strain but in many other American 
strains from both man and horses. The attempt to differen- 
tiate Sporotrichum schencku and Sporotrichum beurmanni on 
this basis must therefore be given up. 
The fermentation of sugar is quite inconstant. It is diffi- 
eult to understand why de Beurmann and Gougerot would use 
