MADUROMYCOSES 



2117 



also points out that in 1806 Heyne saw the brother of a Rajah at 

 Cuddapah in Hyderabad with a foot in a leprotic state, but which 

 was considered to be distinct from leprosy, although it was not 

 known what the nature of the disease might be. Collas thinks that 

 this must have been mycetoma, and draws attention to Brett's 

 ' sarcomes adipeux,' in which he says it is difficult not to recognize 

 Ballingall's disease. 



With reference to the above names, it will be noted that they 

 apply to any form of mycetoma, and not especially to black myce- 

 toma. The name ' Ballingall's disease,' in our opinion, is not 

 applicable to the black mycetomas, because, as already indicated, 

 he was not acquainted with the disease. 



In 1886, Carter gave up his pink mould, and drew attention to 

 the similarity between the fungus of actinomycosis and that of 

 mycetoma. 



Kanthack (1893) studied both the yellow and black mycetomas, 

 and came to the conclusion that the former agreed morphologically 

 and structurally with actinomycosis, but with regard to the black 

 grains his position was curious, for although he found them to 

 consist of an olive-brown, glassy, or finely granular material, in 

 which hollow filaments, radially arranged, were embedded, still 

 he regarded these as degeneration changes, and sought to prove 

 that the granules were an organism allied to the actinomycosis fungus 

 which he had found in the yellow variety. Thus, like Vandyke 

 Carter, he believed both varieties to be fungal in nature and to be 

 caused by the same fungus, but he attempted to show that the 

 fungus of the yellow variety existed in the black, while the former 

 observer believed the reverse to be true. He named the fungus 

 Oospora indica Kanthack, 1893, and distinguished the two varieties 

 as 0. indica var. flava and 0. indica var. nigra. Unna, to whom 

 he sent specimens, however, did not make this error, but says: — 

 ' A whole series of important distinctions separate the two fungi, 

 and there is no question of their identity.' 



Boyce and Surveyor (1894), in a most important paper, first 

 definitely proved that the fungi existing in the black and yellow 

 varieties were quite different, and thus definitely established the 

 two main divisions of mycetoma, which to-day we call maduro- 

 mycosis and actinomycosis. They showed that the black grains 

 were composed of a large, septate, branching fungus embedded in a 

 brown pigmented ground substance, which was readily bleached 

 by eau de Javelle. They did not observe spore formation, nor was 

 cultivation attempted. 



In the same year Boccaro also differentiated between the white 

 and the black varieties of the disease. 



Chatterjee (19 11) observed that grains placed in agar and glucose 

 agar tubes increased in size some seven to eight times in four days, 

 and were surrounded by fine hair-like structures which were composed 

 of delicate branching mycelial threads, which were seen to come from 

 the thick black threads. Onpotato, the growth was dry and black. In 



