2o6o 



TROPICAL DEFMA TOM YCOSES 



[c) From certain clinical appearances : ' Tropical ichthyosis,' a bad 

 term, as in the tropics true ichthyosis is far from rare; ' Dermato- 

 mycosis chronica figurata exfoliativa ' (Tamson) ; ' Herpes farinosus- ' 

 (Ritter) ; 'Herpes desquamans ' (Turner); 'Tinea imbricata,' a 

 term introduced by Manson, and which is now the one most generally 

 used. 



[d) From the generic name given to the fungus : ' Aspergillosis ' of 

 Wehmer ; ' Lepidophytosis ' of Tribondeau ; ' Endodermophytosis ' of 

 Castellani. 



[e) From the name of the authors who have more completely 

 studied the disease: ' Hanson's herpes,' ' Turner's herpes,' etc., the 

 term ' herpes ' being used by Roux and others in the obsolete meaning 

 of epiphytic skin disease. 



(/) Terms apparently of unknown origin, such as 'Gugo,' a 

 denomination much used in the Marshall Islands; ' Cascado,' a term 

 used in the Molucca Islands; * Buckwar,' etc. 



History. — The first recognizable account of the condition is to be 

 found in Dampier's ' Voyage Round the World,' published in 1789. 

 Dampier saw the disease in the Philippine Islands in Mindanoa, in 

 Guam, and in the Ladrone Islands. About the end of the same 

 century Dentrescasteaux described cases of the same condition in 

 Tonga. In 181 1 Marsden observed it among the natives of Polo 

 Mas, on the west coast of Sumatra. In Alibert's ' Atlas,' published 

 in 1832, there is a reference to the disease. In 1841 the disease was 

 recognized by the medical officers attached to the United States 

 Exploratory Expedition led by Commodore Wilkes, and Fox in 

 1844 described it under the name of ' gune,' the term used by the 

 Gilbert Island natives. 



In the reports of the Samoa Medical Mission for the year 1869 

 there is a good description of the malady by Geo. Turner. In 1874 

 Tilbury Fox gave a description of the complaint under the term 

 * Tokelau ringworm,' and noted the presence of a fungus in the scales 

 sent to him from the tropics. He considered it to be identical, or 

 very similar to, the fungus of European ringworm. From the 

 drawings given the fungus described by him seems, however, not 

 to have been a trichophyton-hke organism, but an aspergillus-like 

 contamination. From that time discussion began, which went on 

 for several years, on the subject whether the disease was a separate 

 entity or merely European ' ringworm ' modified by the different 

 climatic conditions. Apparently the great majority of the European 

 authorities, who, however, had no personal experience of the 

 condition, were against considering the disease a separate one, while 

 the medical men practising in the tropics generally believed it to be 

 a different disease from ringworm. Valuable researches were carried 

 out by McGregor in 1870 and Koniger in 1878. Hanson's researches 

 on the malady— in China from 1879 1882 — are by far the most 

 important. He gave a complete clinical description of the malady, 

 and introduced the very appropriate name of tinea imbricata; 

 moreover, he very correctly described the microscopical appearances 



