TRANSMISSIBILITY OF TINEA TONSURANS. 295 
configuration, though frequently the patches are modified, 
owing to the pruritus, which causes the animals to bite or 
scratch them and disseminate the spores irregularly. It has 
never been seen to disappear spontaneously. The spores are 
not so large as those observed in other animals. Experi¬ 
ments have proved that it is transmissible from one dog to 
another, to the horse, and to mankind; but it has not been 
communicated to the bovine species. 
In the ox this parasitical affection manifests a predilection 
for the head and neck, though it may appear on the other 
regions of the body, with the exception of the inferior parts 
of the limbs. The malady is most severe, it is imagined, in 
dark-skinned animals; the hair of these more readily breaks 
than in those which have white skins. The disease dis¬ 
appears at certain points without treatment, and reappears at 
others, especially in young animals. The malady is readily 
transmissible to other creatures of the same species, and it is 
worthy of remark, as a characteristic feature, that in artificial 
infection the parasite shows a tendency to assume the circular 
form, even when the sporules are sown in a linear manner. 
The spores have been proved to maintain their faculty of 
germinating for a long period—more than six months. 
This bovine tinea is not communicable to sheep or 
pigs, and in the horse its transmission is, according to Roell, 
marked by an eruption that soon spontaneously subsides. 
When transmitted to man, it readily developes; and, after 
the observations recorded by Gerlach, gives rise to an 
annular configuration on the arms and legs. It is easily re¬ 
transmitted to the ox. In aged animals it usually disappears 
without treatment; but it is more persistent in young ones, 
and, unless submitted to remedial measures, is liable to prove 
troublesome. 
Boerensprung, of Berlin, had affirmed several years ago 
that tinea tonsurans was transferable from animals to man¬ 
kind, and vice versa. Delafond, also, a long time ago, emitted 
this opinion; and Lafosse, of the Toulouse Veterinary School, 
had collected, in 1861, eleven undoubted cases of transmission 
of the disease to men and women. The latter distinguishes 
the two varieties—herpes circinatus and herpes tonsurans. 
The latter he describes as having the diseased patches always 
forming a complete circle, with sometimes the coin-shaped 
crust occupying it very evenly limited around its margin, and 
with a notched edge {lord taille a pic). This nummulary 
production is grey or brown in colour, adheres closely or 
loosely to the skin beneath, and is consistent or farinous in 
texture. Herpes circinatus differs from the latter form by 
