1072 



FUNGI IMPERFECT I 



ized as: ' Glohuli gonimici in stratum amorphum diffusum aggregati.' 

 In this genus he gathered no less than thirteen species, all described 

 by himself and mostly found in water or in pharmaceutical prepara- 

 tions. 



His twelfth and thirteenth species were, however, more interest- 

 ing, as they were called Cryptococcus cerevisicB and C. vini. 



In 1837 Meyen separated C. cerevisice from the genus Cryptococ- 

 cus, because it reproduced by ascospores as well as by budding, 

 and to this new genus he gave the name Saccharomyces, so that 

 Cryptococcus cevevisicB became Saccharomyces cerevisice. 



Cryptococcus therefore remained for those yeast-like fungi which 

 do not reproduce by ascospores, but only by budding. 



The removal of the species cerevisice from Cryptococcus was not 

 recognized by Charles Robin, and with it he grouped the fungus found 

 by Remak in 1845 in the biliary passages and intestines of rabbits, 

 to which in 1847 he gave the name Cryptococcus guttulatus. Later, 

 however, it was also shown to belong to the genus Saccharomyces. 



In 1873 Rivolta noticed peculiar bodies in a form of lymphangitis 

 in horses, and in 1883 he and Micellone named this organism Crypto- 

 coccus farciminosus. 



During this period one or two organisms had a temporary resting- 

 place in this genus — e.g., Fresenius's Cryptococcus glutinus. 



The first case in which a cryptococcus was definitely proved to be 

 the cause of disease was Busse's case of cystic swellings of the tibia 

 in a woman, aged thirty-one. The bodies in question were first seen 

 by Buschke, but it was Busse who first proved that they were the 

 true cause of the disease, and showed that they were pathogenic to 

 animals. These yeast-like organisms were found at the autopsy 

 some thirteen months later to occur in sarcomatous-like growths 

 consisting of young granulation tissue and giant cells, not merely 

 in the cysts, but also in the lungs, kidneys, spleen, and in a vesicle on 

 the cornea. The organism grew well on potato and in acid media. 

 It fermented glucose and was specially pathogenic for rats. It 

 only reproduced by budding, and no endospores or mycelium were 

 ever seen. It was this that induced Vuillemin to give it the name 

 Cryptococciis hominis, 1901. 



Including C. hominis, and after excluding several wrongly classi- 

 fied forms, there are about fourteen species parasitic in man which 

 can at present be referred to the genus Cryptococcus, e.g. : — 



Cryptococcus breweri Verdun, 1912, described in an abscess of the 

 vertebral column; C. tonkini Legendre, 1911, found in two cases of 

 blastomycosis in Indo-China. 



In addition a number of cryptococci have been found associated 

 with cancers, sarcomata, and innocent tumours — e.g., C. plimmeri 

 Constantin, 1901; C. degenerans Vuillemin, 1896; C. corsellii Neveu- 

 Lemaire, 1908; C. hessleri Rettger, 1904. 



The following have been found in the mouth or throat: — C. sul- 

 Jureus Beauverie and Lesieur, 1912; C. lesieuri Beauverie and 

 Lesieur, 1912 ; C. salmoneus Sartory, 1911 ; C. guillermondi Beauverie 



