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Endocarditis due to fungi is an exceedingly rare clinical entity. Joachim and Polayes1 described a case of subacute endocarditis with systemic mycosis (moniliasis) in a drug addict and referred to another case in which autopsy revealed evidence of mycotic endocarditis. The following case, also in a drug addict, is similar in many respects to that of Joachim and Polayes and is considered worthy of reporting because of its apparent rarity, and because of its possible public health importance, since these cases occurred in drug addicts.A white man aged 49 was admitted to the United States Public Health Service Hospital on May 11, 1940 for treatment of drug addiction (heroin) which dated from 1914. His previous medical and personal history showed nothing relevant to the present report. Physical examination on admission was negative except for many missing and some artificial teeth, defective vision and hemorrhoids. Serologic tests for syphilis

There is a well recognized need in medical mycology for a more logical and usable classification of the dermatophytes. A better knowledge of the morphology of these fungi is necessary before one can expect to improve on the present systems. The classification of fungi is based on the manner in which the spores are borne and on their characters. By studying the type of spores developing after a so-called sexual process one is better able to determine probable relationships between species and genera. Many fungi belonging to the form class fungi imperfecti have no known sexual reproduction. The classification of these fungi depends on the vegetative spores or conidia which do not always indicate real relationships. As has often been pointed out, it may therefore happen that a given genus of the fungi imperfecti includes species of diverse origins. Nevertheless, a critical study of the characters of the spores, of

Variability of a sort not susceptible to genetic analysis is a frequently observed phenomenon among fungi and bacteria1 and is an important interfering factor in the recognition and identification of pathogenic fungi. It is important from the standpoint of any systematic study that the permanence, frequency and extent of such variation be known. In the case of some fungi, mutants have been subjected to genetic analysis.2 The sudden appearance, diversity and permanence of the type of variation under discussion and the genetic behavior of analogous variants in neurosporan and in yeasts seem to justify the designation "mutant" for these variants. The published report3 of a series of remarkable mutations appearing spontaneously in an old culture of the pathogenic fungus Microsporon gypseum concluded with the hypothesis, "many of the dermatophytes now known as species are only varieties of a single unstable species."4 The con

At this time, when there is renewed interest in the study of tropical diseases, it is considered worth while to report another case of chromoblastomycosis occurring in a person who had never been outside the continental United States. It is furthermore considered of value to emphasize the fact that a considerable distance (Atlanta, Ga., to New Orleans) between the physician treating the patient and the laboratory offered no real difficulty in making the diagnosis and culturing the causative fungus.In the mycologic section of this paper we have corrected the name of the causative fungus to conform with present knowledge of the etiologic agents of this mycosis. The generally accepted name of the disease, chromoblastomycosis, however, has been retained. The substitute term, chromomycosis, which has been proposed is somewhat shorter, but in our opinion it is unsuitable for reasons which have been discussed elsewhere.1 Many

The standardization of disinfectants has been one of the problems claiming the attention of workers in many laboratories. Some of these investigations have found their way into publications; many have not been reported. The comparative study of disinfectants has been of considerable importance, particularly when associated with chemical studies of different groups of bactericides in an attempt to elaborate new compounds effective as bactericides and nontoxic to the body tissues. Although a germicide which has been shown to be very effective under the conditions of a laboratory experiment may, for one reason or another, be unsuitable for clinical use, the laboratory findings in general provide a useful guide to its relative value.The methods most used in determining the phenol coefficient are modifications of the Rideal-Walker method1 proposed in 1903. It will be unnecessary to describe here either this method or its modifications as proposed by Anderson and McClintic,

Carrión1 has published detailed mycologic studies together with clinical descriptions and excellent photographs of a number of dermatomycoses occurring in Porto Rico. King2 and Ashford3 have also emphasized the frequent occurrence of fungus infections.In a previous report by one of us (Dr. Kesten)4 on skin diseases occurring in Porto Rico, it was noted that 42 per cent were clinically typical of fungus infections. Eighty patients (14 per cent ) were investigated for the presence of fungi. The object of this paper is to classify the lesions found in these cases according to their distribution and clinical characteristics and to report on the fungi occurring in these clinically similar lesions.TECHNICThe affected skin or appendage from which a culture was to be taken was cleansed with soap and water, swabbed with 50 per cent alcohol and allowed to dry. If the lesions

The identification of species of fungi isolated from ringworm is of importance to the dermatologist. In some instances it suggests the source of infection. There is also evidence that the great variations in the disease picture depend in part on the variety of parasite concerned.In the differentiation of species emphasis has been laid on the form or color of the giant colony or on the presence or abundance of such structures as fuseaux, spiral hyphae and nodular organs. This has led to the setting up of many species. Brumpt in his last edition of the "Précis de parasitologie" listed seventy-nine. Even so, it is often difficult to identify freshly isolated strains with any one of them.Sabouraud was able to demonstrate that certain species were parasites of one or another domestic animal, and that human infection with a particular dermatophyte often occurred from one animal. He also

Two cases of systemic mycoses are described in Africans who must have acquired the disease in Africa. The fungi isolated exhibited all the features of Blastomyces dermatitidis. Full clinical and pathological details are given.