38
MEISSNER ON A FUNGOID GROWTH IN THE NAILS.
On a FUNGOID GROWTH in the NAILS.
By C. MEISSNER.
Abstracted from the ' Archiv f. Physiol.Heilkunde,' Jahrg.
12, H. 1., p. 193, PI. 1.
THE numerous observations which have been made respecting
the growth of Fungi in and upon the human body, both in the
mucous membranes and on the skin, may be divided into very
distinct classes, having reference respectively to the real significance, in a pathological point of view, of the fungoid
growths. In the one case the production of the lowest vegetable organisms may be wholly and merely accidental, and be
connected with the co-existing pathological processes only in
so far as the latter may afford the conditions, or the appropriate soil for their vegetation. In the other set of cases,
which are very much more infrequent, these morbid changes
of the organs are more intimately connected with the fungoid
growth ; so that, in fact, the Fungus is, to a certain extent, the
disease itself. The number of affections referable to this
category—so far as they are as yet known—is very small; for,
perhaps, the fungus of Porrigo lupinosa (favus), and that of
Pityriasis versicolor, are the only ones which can be included
in it. The fungoid growth which occurs in aphtha must
probably remain doubtful and improbable.
In the course of the summer (1852) the author had an
opportunity, in the Clinic of Professor Baum, of observing" a
species of fungoid vegetation, of which no mention, according
to him, had previously been made, and which would probably belong to the second class of cases above mentioned.
The subject of the observation was an old man of 80, who
had been admitted into the hospital for a tumour of the testis.
The finger-nails presented an extraordinary appearance,
and abnormal form. They were about l-12th of an inch
thick, nearly throughout, and at the same time much arched
above, so that the anterior portion was incurved like a claw
over the point of the finger: the anterior edge was thick and
broad, but presented in no respect the conformation of the
nails which is usual in phthisis and cyanosis. Their colour
was, for the greater part, a peculiar yellowish-white, in places
passing into brownish, and quite opaque; but this abnormal
and very remarkable discoloration was not uniformly spread
over the whole nail, frequently forming merely streaks running
from the root of the nail as far as the free border, and between
them were spaces more or less numerous in different nails,
which, except in the abnormal thickness, appeared sound,
red, and transparent. The nails, moreover, were more moveable in their bed than is natural; they were not, however,
MEISSNER ON A FUNGOID GROWTH IN THE NAILS.
39
although in a state apparently of dying off, full of cracks
and soft, but, on the contrary, were hard and brittle under
the knife, like wood. All the nails were thus affected, except
that of the right index-finger, which was quite sound.
The author's attention having been directed to the subject
by Professor Baum, he examined a piece of the nail, in order
to ascertain whether any air was contained between its cells,
upon which the abnormal appearance might depend. On a
longitudinal section the surface exhibited streaks, which ran
from behind forwards, and were frequently of a yellow or
brown colour; and while the surface of the nail, as above
said, was smooth internally, it appeared disintegrated, easily
separating into thin lamella, all of which were quite opaque.
One of these lamellae, treated with caustic soda, and examined
microscopically, was composed of the well-known cells of
which the nail is constituted; but, as these were rendered
transparent, and swollen under the influence of the re-agent,
there was apparent a rich plexus of variously convoluted filamentary fungi, which spread upon and between the cells, and
frequently projected beyond the free edge of the object. All
the affected nails presented the same appearances. The fungus
is very similar to that of PorriffO lupinosa, and Pityriasis versicolor. The author noticed a mycelium, composed of long,
much branched, jointed filaments. They appeared greenish
from the diffraction of the light; had a width of l-900th—
l-700"'th, many even only of l-lOOO"'th, and consisted of
successive joints, which were not of uniform size, though, on
the average, from two to four times as long as broad, but were
frequently also scarcely perceptible. This growth, in many
places, formed a very thick felt, which was very beautifully
seen when the cells of the nail were almost dissolved under
the prolonged action of the soda, by which the fungus was in
no way altered. Besides these, there occurred broader, shorter,
unbranched filaments, of a clavate form, which were much
more distinctly jointed, and consisted of short, square, or
rounded segments ; these were the sporangia, containing the
spores disposed circularly, and consequently having a double
outline, the outermost delicate line being that of the sacculus
itself, the inner that of the spores. Imbedded in the network
formed by these filaments, and those of the mycelium, there
were, lastly, large masses of free, detached spores in vast
quantities. The latter were round, also of a greenish hue, and
of very various sizes ; the smallest measuring only l-1000"'th,
up to l-90O'"th ; the largest as much as l-450"'th.
The fungus above described differs from that of Pityriasis
versicolor in the jointed structure of its mycelium, and the
40
MEISSNEE ON A FUNGOID GEOWTH IN THE NAILS.
greater size of its filaments and spores. It has the greatest
general resemblance to the fungus of Porrigo lupinosa (Javus) ;
the mycelium of the latter, however, is also unjointed, and the
author states that he did not find the spores so large as in the
ungual fungus.
The disposition of the growth in the substance of the nail
could be very well observed in vertical sections. In thin
sections made in this direction, treated with soda, it was evident that the fungus extended through the entire thickness of
the nail, forming strata, running in streaks from the root of
the nail forwards, and parallel with the surface. The cells of
the nail were separated from each other b j the fungoid strata,
and the thickening of the nail was perhaps exclusively owing
to them. The above described yellow and brownish lamellae
and streaks were seen to be due to the fungus, consisting, in
fact, almost entirely of masses of innumerable spores. The
peculiar discoloration of the nail was produced by them,
just as the brown colour of scales in Pityriasis versicolor is
ascribable to the fungus.
The toe-nails were thickened, fissured, and whitish, as is
usual in old people, but presented no trace of the fungoid
growth; nor did any part of the skin, which was dry and scurfy.
When asked respecting his nails, and the cause of their
alteration, the old man stated, that about thirty years previously, a heavy weight had fallen upon his fingers, in consequence of which, the nails were broken and had come off;
that they subsequently grew again, but had gradually become
thick and white ; he did not remember whether the right forefinger had escaped at the time of the accident or not.
On the Multiplication of Chara by Division. By M. C.
MONTAGNE. Comptes-Rendus, Tome xxxiv., JVo. 24,
p. 898.
THE object of this Memoir is to demonstrate what had previously been merely suspected, viz., that certain species of
Chara, but especially Chara stelligera, Bauer, were capable
of propagation in another way than by spores, that is to say
by bulbiUi, a mode of reproduction analogous to what takes
place in several of the Liliaceae, and many other plants, both
vascular and cellular.
The multiplication of this species, which is rarely and
widely distributed,, and which very seldom indeed produces
spores, is insured by the mode above adverted to. The
author proceeds to describe the bulbules in the following
manner:—