A NEW FUNGUS, PHIALOPHORA VER- 
RUCOSA, PATHOGENIC FOR MAN 
E. M. Medlar 
The fungus here briefly described was isolated from a chronic 
skin lesion on the buttock of a man 22 years old. The more 
detailed description may be found in a current number of the 
Journal of Medical Research. 
The fungus grows on all ordinary laboratory media as a 
brownish-black, felt-like mycelium composed of ramified, septate 
hyphae which are cylindric, fairly straight, and composed of 
thick-walled cells 4-25 X 2-6 /l. Their protoplasmic content is 
finely granular and in it are embedded numerous fat droplets of 
varying size. By staining, a definite nucleus can be demonstrated 
in each cell as shown in the accompanying figure. 
Sclerotic cells are formed under conditions which are unfavor- 
able to normal growth, and are also produced in tissues and on 
hydrocele agar. These sclerotic cells may undergo a process of 
septation in more than one plane and in this way form small 
sclerotium-like cell-masses. 
Reproduction, so far as known, is entirely asexual, and takes 
place by two types of conidial formation. The type of conidial 
formation found in cultures where conditions are most favorable 
for luxuriant growth is semi-endogenous in character. It occurs, 
as a rule, on specialized, short, lateral branches of the aerial 
hyphae, although at times the end segment of a hypha may be- 
come a conidium bearer. As a rule, these branches consist of a 
single sporogenous cell, although occasionally they may be com- 
posed of two or three cells from which the sporogenous cells may 
arise terminally and laterally. The sporogenous cells may arise 
singly or on opposite sides of the same vegetative cell, as indi- 
cated in the figure, and are usually ovoid in shape, forming during 
the process of fructification a shallow, round cup at the distal 
end. Into this cup the conidia are pushed as a result of the 
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