fj£i<TO£.N   (LJ
IReprinted from Thk Philadelphia Monthly Medical Journal,
                 November, 1899.]
 THE   CLASSIFICATION  AND  NOMENCLA-
          TURE OF THE RAY FUNGI.      {/
            By LUDVIG HEKTOEN, M.D.,
                    of Chicago, 111.,
         Professor of Pathology in Rush Medical College.

   The classification and  the nomenclature  of the
 group of organisms of which the "ray fungus" as-
 sociated with actinomycosis is the most prominent
 member have been  far from  uniform.   A glance at
 the current textbooks of pathology and bacteriology
 will at once  show that the nomenclature of these
 organisms is  even now somewhat confused and the
 lists of synonyms have reached startling  dimensions.
 A simplified nomenclature which would be generally
 acceptable was  not  to be expected until this and
 similar groups  of  microorganisms  were  subjected
 to  extended, systematic botanical investigation.  It
 is believed  that the recent studies in this direction
 by Gasperini, Rossi Doria,  Domec,  Sauvageau and
 Radais,  Berestneff and  Lachner have  thoroughly
 paved  the way for a more satisfactory classification
 and intelligent  nomenclature of these  organisms
 whose number has rapidly multiplied.
  In order  to appreciate  the significance and the
 relative importance  of the reasons  for  the  use  of
 various terms and  schemes of classification previ-
 ously and now in vogue in  connection with the or-
 ganisms in question, it becomes necessary to briefly
 review their history.
  It may be said at  the outset  that the essential dif-
 ficulty met with in the study of these organisms, has
 been the question whether they were to be regarded
as belonging to the so-called higher bacteria or cla-
dothnx, to the simpler moulds,  or should they con-.
stitute  an intermediate group^the streptothrix group.
It is also perhaps well to rfemfnti-' t^igatki1 Jharffig- •
 
.54
.+r
                         2

principal morphological characteristic of these plants
is a unicellular, branching mycelium which generally
sends out spore-bearing threads.

         Streptothrix and Cladothrix.

  In 1874 Ferdinand Cohn discovered  in water, and
in 1875 he described, a  colorless, microscopic plant
with so-called  false ramifications which he termed
Cladothrix dichotoma  (/<AaSos, a sprout  Opii, a  hair)
and assigned to the higher bacteria.  .At  the same
time Cohn described and figured  certain filaments
in peculiar concretions from the tear-duct, given him
by R Forster.   Such lachrymal concretions had  been
recognized by A. von  Graefe,  Hirschler, Grube and
others, and regarded usually as  masses of the fungus
of favus ; Waldeyerand others likened the threads of
which they were largely made up to the filaments of
Leptothrix buccalis.  Cohn, however, found the organ-
ism in question to be composed  of branching threads,
called  it  Streptothrix   forsteri  (o-TptTrros,  twisted;
Opii,  hair),  and assigned  it  also  to   the  higher
bacteria with a question-mark.   He could not study
the organism as closely as necessary in order to  give
it a definite place in the system of botanical classifi-
cation because he failed to obtain any cultures.
  Cohn divided the thread-like  bacteria  (Nemato-
genae) into two groups, the unbranched and  the  ones
with false branches, and he tentatively assigned  both
cladothrix and streptothrix  to the  latter.   In his
description, however,  Cohn states the differences
between cladothrix and  streptothrix somewhat more
clearly:
  " Cladothrix  n. g. filamenta leptotrichoidea tener-
rima,  achroa,  non  articulata  stricta vel  undulata,
pseudichotoma.
  " Streptothrix n. g. filamenta  leptotrichoidea tener-
rima, achroa, non-articulata vel anguste spiralia, parce
ramosa."
  Cohn's  figures show very distinctly that the method
of branching of his Streptothrix  forsteri has nothing
in common with that of the cladothrix.  Nevertheless
there remained a degree of uncertainty in regard to 
3
 their classification which  undoubtedly helped much
 to bring about the confusion which later arose.
   In 1877 Cienkowski studied the process of segmen-
 tation in Cladothrix dichotoma of Cohn, with whom
 he agreed as to  principal  characteristic, namely the
 mode of branching.  He states that he has sometimes
 seen branches arising by true ramification,  but he
 makes  no mention at all of the Streptothrix  forsteri
 and its peculiarities in this respect.
   It is true that Marchand, in 1883, classified Strep-
 tothrix forsteri as a distinct genus, separable from
 cladothrix because of  its  true  branching,  but  both
 Zopf and Winter at about the same  time regarded
 the  two as wholly identical, Zopf  designating (John's
 Streptothrix  F. as Cladothrix F.  Cladothrix is de-
 scribed as a fission fungus, composed of encapsulated
 cells, arranged in the form of threads which present
 a pseudo-dichotomy due to the  divergence  of  two
 members of a thread and their further growth by cell-
 multiplication.  Thus  it came about that the strepto-
 trices, of  which many new  species were described
 during  the  subsequent 8  or 10  years,  were all, or
 nearly all, designated as cladothrix and classed with
 the  bacteria, the fundamental difference between the
 modes  of branching of streptothrix and cladothrix
 being wholly overlooked or wrongly interpreted.
  Lachner calls special attention to the element of
 confusion  which  arose  from  the erroneous  interpre-
 tation of the significance of dichotomy, or dichotomous
 branching, by writers, especially by  pathologists and
 bacteriologists.  To quote  directly from Lachner :
  " In every  textbook of botany dichotomy is defined
 as a  peculiar form of branching in which the mother
 axis  becomes replaced by two daughter axes, of equal
 value, due to a symmetrical division of the stem into
 two limbs at the point of branching. In all other forms
 of branching, on the other hand, the mother axis runs
 on so that one  or  more  branches  of higher order
 appear below the point of growth.   Now  pseudo-
 dichotomy is used to signify that  the above arrange-
 ment is only an apparent one, whereas in reality the
 mother  axis runs  on.   Accordingly Cohn  correctly
described  the branching of his cladothrix as a pseudo- 
4
dichotomy.  Many authors, however, wrongly regard
dichotomy as meaning any branching  which  results
in two limbs at the point of  ramification, regardless
of whether these are equivalent or whether one repre-
sents the mother  axis, dichotomous branching being
used as synonymous with one-sided branching. This
is the sense in which  dichotomy is described  in con-
nection with streptothrix and actinomyces  (Affanas-
siew,   Harz,  Terni,  Hesse,  Hertwig,  Rutimeyer,
Bostroem,  Th. v.  Schroeder, v.  Mosetig-Moorhof,
etc.).    Zopf  and  Winter classed streptothrix with
cladothrix and as  an exact examination is difficult on
account of the  minuteness  of streptothrix, many
authors referred to the latter also as  being pseudo-
dichotomous, which in  the accepted significance of
dichotomy means  " false branching."  Even W. Kruse
fell into this error in his description of the strepto-
trices when he states that the threads branch dichot-
omously and  then  contradicts himself a  few lines
further on by saying : "This branching, which forms
acute or (mostly) right angles, is a genuine one due
to lateral  budding.   A lateral  budding,  however,
excludes all dichotomy!"
  The unification  of   streptothrix  and  cladothrix
greatly hindered the knowledge of the former because
the observations in regard to cladothrix were  simply
applied  to streptothrix,  and thus  it came about  that
years passed after the discovery of actinomyces Harz.
for instance, before it was recognized that it belonged
to the streptothrix group (Lachner).
  During this time—1882-1892—many new varieties
or species  of streptothrix were described.   In 1883
J. Miquel observed a  branching organism in  the air
which he held to  be cladethrix, but which,  according
to Rossi Doria, is closely related to streptothrix.  In
1887  Edington described  the  Bacillus arborescens
which he  found  in the scales of  scarlet  fever and
which is a streptothrix.  In 1888 B. Naunyn described
a ferruginous organism in the endocardial vegetations
and the leptomeninx  of a case of chorea.  Zopf de-
clared the  organism to be a  cladothrix, whereas it
concerned a typical streptothrix. Then Rabe described
his Cladothrix canis, a branching mycelial  organism 
5
 somewhat similar to the one  already described by
 Vachetta and Rivolta as Discomyces pleuriticus or
 Pleuromyces canis familiaris.   Next Nocard isolated
 and studied  the organism  of  farcin du boeuf; he
 regarded it as cladothrix because he was inclined to
 believe  the  branching  as  pseudodichotomous, but
 Sauvageau and  Radais later show that  it concerns a
 genuine streptothrix.  In the  same year Mace still
 further confounded the confusion by describing under
 the name of Cladothrix dichotoma Cohn  an organism
 which became better known under the later term of
 Streptothrix chromogena; Mace describes the branch-
 ing correctly as  due  to the outgrowth of  lateral buds,
 although be claims to have observed the formation of
 a septum at the base of the branch which  thus became
 separated from the  main axis.   Mace also employed
 Cohn's original figures incorrectly.
   In  1889 De Toni and Trevisan, who  edited tire
 part  of Saccardo's  Sylloge Fungorum relating to
 Schizomycetes, dropped  the word cladothrix and in
 honor of  Nocard's discovery of  the organism of far-
 cin du boeuf, they substituted  the word  nocardia for
 Streptothrix Cohn on the ground  of the preexisting
 Streptothrix Corda.   They included in nocardia the
 actinomyces of Harz and placed the group among the
 bacteria.
   In  this  year  Eppinger described  his  Cladothrix
 asteroides isolated  from a  case of cerebral  abscess
 and meningitis—another streptothrix.
   In  1890 Almqvist published some investigations
 comcerning " Certain bacteria with mycelia," describ-
 ing cultures from three different sources.  He recog-
 nized  the branching of the unicellular  threads as
 genuine; the formation of  spores on air  threads and
the development of mycelium  from the spores are
described.   Following Brefeld's system,  Almqvist
places the streptotrices, or microorganisms with true
branches, midway between the moulds and the fission-
fungi.
  Then follows  the  description by Gasperini of a
streptothrix, found   in the  air,  under the name of
Streptothrix forsteri.  Inasmuch  as  Cohn  did  not
secure pure  cultures  of his  Streptothrix  forsteri 
6
Gasperini could have no basis for the establishment
of the identity of these two forms and his organism
subsequently became the Streptothrix alba, an appar-
ently widely distributed  organism described under
various  names  by different  observers.   Gasperini
expresses the opinion that  these organisms belong
among the hyphomycetes.  Soon afterwards  he de-
scribes another streptothrix from the air, the  Strep-
tothrix chromogena which is identical with Mace's
Cladothrix dichotoma  Cohn.
  In 1891 Rossi-Doria described five new pigment-
producing varieties from the air  and, striking the
road indicated  by Cohn,  he points out  that many
of the organisms  heretofore described as cladotrices
in reality are streptotrices and that the actinomyces of
Harz is a streptothrix—the Streptothrix actinomyces;
he accordingly  arranges Nocard's and Eppinger's or-
ganisms in this division, renaming them Streptothrix
farcinicus and  Streptothrix  eppingeri.   The divis-
ion forms a  transition between the moulds and the
bacteria.
  Sauvageau and Radais conclude their  interesting
and valuable  study (1892) concerning  the genera cla-
dothrix, streptothrix and actinomyces as follows :
  1.  Cladothrix dichotoma is a bacterium ; it possesses
a sheath  and has false ramifications.
  2.  Streptothrix of Cohn has no sheath ; the conidia
form by segmentation of simple or ramifying filaments,
a little larger than the nonsegmenting mycelium.
  3.  The different species of streptothrix differ but
little in microscopic characters, more in culture.  All
produce tufts in bouillon without clouding it.
  4.  The term streptothrix of Cohn should be dropped
and this group should be included under Oospora Wall-
roth ; they belong to hyphomycetes, genus mucedinae.
  5.  The actinomyces of Harz concords perfectly in
all details with streptothrix of Cohn and  should be
called oospora bovis.
  6.  Diseases like farcin of Nocard, actinomycosis  of
Bollinger, pseudo-tuberculosis of Eppinger are not
bacterial  maladies, but are due to oospora.
  Sauvageau  and Radais dropped  the name strepto-
thrix for  the same reason as did De Toni and Trevi- 
7
san, namely its previous application to another fungus
by Corda.
  In the same paper Sauvageau and Radais describe
two new varieties :   the  Oospora metchnikovi and
Oospora guignardi.    The various morphologic and
biologic  characters  of   these  two  organisms  are
thoroughly described.
  Now follow  in rapid succession the description by
Hesse of Cladothrix liquefaciens ; by  Gruber of  the
Micromyces hofmanni;  by E. Acosta and F. Grande
Rossi of Cladothrix invulnerabilis ; by Casabo of the
Cladothrix  rubra; by Vincent of  Streptothrix madu-
rae, the cause of the yellow variety of  mycetoma; by
Garten  of Cladothrix liquefaciens No. 2 ; by Rullmann
of Cladothrix  odorifera; DuBois Saint-Severin  of
Streptothrix aurea; by Kedzior of a thermophilic cla-
dothrix  ; by G. Thiry  of Cladothrix mordore.
  In the meantime  Rossi-Doria, Gasperini and Terni
in Italy were describing several  varieties of similar
organisms  under the names of streptothrix or acti-
nomyces.
  The  indiscriminate use of the word cladothrix in
the above  list of names  shows how deep-rooted the
confusion of streptothrix with cladothrix had become.
  Blanchard, in Bouchard's General Pathology, Vol.
II,  1896, describes many of  the pathogenic  forms of
these organisms under the term nocardia because this
word had  no  special significance in  regard to their
botanical position, a  question concerning which the
conceptions were sure  to  be soon modified,  as  he
thought.

         Actinomyces  Bovis et  Hominis.
  In  the foregoing, reference  has repeatedly  been
made to the Actinomyces bovis and hominis, or the
ray fungus of Harz.  It is  now in  order to take up
the consideration of the history of this organism and
its relation to streptothrix and cladothrix.
  As is  now well known, Langenbeck, in  1845, was
the first to see the actinomyces as it occurs in the le-
sions which  it may produce.  Lebert,  in  1857, and
Robin, in 1871, were the first to publish some of the
details  of  certain cases, with more or less accurate 
8
drawings  of the as yet  unrecognized organisms; Ri-
volta (1868 and 1875) and Perrocinto (1875) were the
first to recognize  the yellow granules in the affected
tissues of cattle as parasites.   Bollinger and Harz, in
1877, first used the term actinomycosis as the name
of the disease this organism  causes  in cattle, Harz
naming the parasite which he found in the masses,
given him by Bollinger from alumpy jaw, actinomyces
bovis on account of its  radiating appearance  in  the
tissues.  Then James Israel, in 1878, in an article en-
titled " Neue  Beobachtungen  auf dem  Gebiete  der
Mykosen des  Menschen," described several cases of
multiple abscesses in man due to  the same organism.
He pointed  out its similarity to Cohn's streptothrix,
and this was confirmed by Cohn himself.  Israel, had
no knowledge, however, of the previous observations
referred to, except Langenbeck's, the notes of  whose
case and  whose  drawings  were first published  in
Israel's paper.  Finally, Ponfick, in  1880, showed that
the bovine and human diseases were identical.
  Harz did  not succeed  in cultivating the organism.
He regarded it as a mould related to the genera Bo-
trytis, or Monosporium.  The peculiar grains or bodies
in the actinomycotic lesions  were held to constitute a
single individual,  composed of septate threads and a
basal cell, which gave rise to dichotomously branching
hyphae, ending in radially arranged knobs or clubs ; the
clubbed terminations Harz held to  be conidia, which
he noted sometimes contained small granules, cells,
and vacuoles.
  Since then, a host of articles have appeared, bear-
ing upon the morphology  and  biology of  this  organ-
ism.  For the present, the interest  is centered upon
those which bear  more directly upon its  relation to
cladothrix and streptothrix, and upon its position, con-
cerning which there has been much controversy.
  Oscar Israel, Bostrom, P. Ziegler, Affanassiew and
Schulz, O.  Bujwid, Protopopoff  and Hammer, and
others, described  the organism as it occurred in pure
cultures.
  Before long, it became apparent that similar clinical
and  anatomic processes  are caused  by  different
species of actinomyces, which  differ in cultural and 
9
pathogenic properties, but only little or not at all mor-
phologically.   Thus the organism isolated and studied
by Max Wolff and James Israel, differs so markedly
from the ones  studied by Bostrom and others, that
Kruse definitively separates them into two species.
  The formation of spores (segmentation) and the
occurrence of degenerative fragmentation were recog-
nized by  Rutimeyer, McFadyean,  and others, while
the clubbed  formations were variously interpreted,
Babes and Bujwid regarding them as conidia, Bostrom,
on the  other  hand, showing  quite conclusively that
they were due to a species of degeneration of the ex-
ternal membrane of the threads.
  As stated,  Harz  regarded the  actinomyces as a
mould, and in this opinion Babes and Bujwid were in-
clined to agree, because they looked upon the clubs
as representing conidia.  Delepine also regarded it as
a mould fungus, the clubs corresponding to asci, hence
it belongs to the ascomycetes ; family, pyrenomycetes.
DeBary, James  Israel, Affanassiew and Schulz, Bos-
trom, Wolff  and Israel  regarded  actinomyces as  a
pleomorphous bacterium, or cladothrix, and this con-
clusion, strengthened by its  appearances in the tis-
sues,  being recognized in  the interior of  grains or
kernels as ramifying threads, as  simple threads, as
short rods, spirals, and cocci, found general accept-
ance  among  the authors of textbooks on pathology
and bacteriology (Baumgarten, Fliigge, Ziegler,Stern-
berg,  De Bary,  van Tieghem, and  many  others).
Affanassiew and Schulz proposed the name of actino-
cladothrix, and Protopopoff and Hammer went so far
as to make actinomyces synonymous with crenothrix,
because they interpreted the branching appearances
as due to a longitudinal division of the threads.
  Israel, in  1878, and, later, Bostrom referred to the
Streptothrix  forsteri as  an organism,  similar to the
actinomyces of Harz.
  De Toni  and Trevisan included actinomyces, to-
gether with other similar organisms usually described
as forms of cladothrix, under the  common  name of
nocardia.
  Rossi-Doria, in 1891, placed the actinomyces among
the streptotrices, which he  thought belong midway 
10
between the moulds and  the bacteria,  and during
1892 there appeared a series of publications by Domec,
Gasperini, and  Sauvageau, and  Radais,  which con-
tained corroborating observations which  form  the
basis for a correct classification of the organism.
  Domec describes the formation of spores and their
development  into threads as it could be followed in
hanging-drop  cultures.   From the  mode of branch-
ing, the appearance  of  the cultures upon  acid and
sugar media, from the limited resistance of the spores
to heat and other peculiarities, he concludes  that the
actinomyces of Harz is a mould.
  Gasperini also identified actinomyces as a strepto-
thrix, and placed both among the moulds, and pointed
out that the experiments with pure cultures  indicate
the existence of different varieties capable of produc-
ing actinomycosis.
  Sauvageau and  Radais also found that  the acti-
nomyces of  Harz corresponds in all the  principal
morphologic and cultural details with other species of
streptothrix,  all of which they include under  the
oospora of the hyphomycetes.
  It will thus be seen that, at the end of  1892, the
actinomyces, or actinomycetes, were  united with  the
streptotrices, and we are now in position to consider
their place in the general system of classification.

Oospora, Streptothrix, Cladothrix, Actinomyces
                 or Nocardia ?
  As was to be expected, the notion that actinomyces
belong among the bacteria had to meet  a  hard and
lingering death.  F. Helme and Range, Birch-Hirsch-
feld, Migula and others  still class it  as a bacterium.
Migula, who classes cladothrix, streptothrix and acti-
nomyces as chlamydobacteria and applies  the word
streptothrix to unbranched mycelial forms  (as  do
Helme and Range) has, however, according to Lach-
ner, become convinced that the ray  fungi belong to
the moulds.
   Contrary  to  the general belief still in vogue  by
virtue largely of tradition, Busgen in 1894 showed, as
Winogradsky had already done, that Cladothrix  di-
chotoma in reality is not pleomorphous  and that it 
II
should therefore no  longer be held up as a model  of
an almost inexhaustible variability.  For the purposes
of multiplication, cylindrical cells separate from within
the sheath  of the  pseudo-dichotomous threads  or
chains, develop cilia  and swarm as conidia until they
become stationary and grow out  into new colonies.
Neither cocci nor threads form stages in the develop-
ment, and accidental changes in form  are not to be
considered as pleomorphous manifestations.
  It is  therefore quite evident that  the continued
misinterpretation of the relation between streptothrix,
cladothrix  and actinomyces, on  the  part of many
pathologists and bacteriologists, depends largely upon
a total disregard of  the  work  of the  investigators
cited.
  In 1894 Gasperini reaches the conclusion that the
organisms described as streptothrix, or which mor-
phologically belongs  to this type, should  be classified
taxonomically  as actinomyces  because the  word
streptothrix was used  long ago by Corda to specify
more complex  and organized plant types.  By acti-
nomyces he would understand microorganisms, closely
allied to bacteria, and which show a  plain "dichot-
omy" and air-threads without special organs of fructi-
fication.   The use of the words  oospora, nocardia,
cladothrix is  not  warranted  by taxonomic rules.  At
the same time Gasperini describes 3 new varieties,
the Actinomyces bovis albus, luteo-roseus, and citreus.
  Terni, in describing the Actinomyces gruberi, also
expresses his preference for the word actinomyces.
  Eppinger believes  that streptothrix,  cladothrix and
actinomyces  belong  to  an  order midway  between
hyphomycetes  and schizomycetes—the streptotrices.
He finds it  difficult  to give up  the idea  that the
branching in  organisms  classed as  cladothrix, such
as actinomyces, is a false  one, and claims  that the
segmentation  of  the threads and the development of
the branches at the point  of segmentation have not
been  sufficiently understood, and  that here lies the
difference between  true  and false branching, and
the distinction between streptothrix and cladothrix,
including actinomyces.  In  the  latter two the study
of hanging drops and  of smear preparations, stained 
12
with hematoxylin  and eosin, will show, he  insists,
that the branches are not continuous with the cell
protoplasm.   In this view he has  not been corrobo-
rated, but is contradicted by his own figures and  by
Sauvageau and Radais, Berestneff and others.
  Kruse, Dammann and others arrange  the  actino-
myces, streptothrix and cladothrix forms under the
name streptotrices, which they regard, with Rossi-
Doria,  as  occupying an intermediate place between
the moulds and the bacteria.
  Blanchard  discusses these organisms  under the
name of nocardia, introduced  by De Toni  and Tre-
visan;  Delearde,  Neumann and Lehmann  describe
them as  hyphomycetes  under the name oospora,
introduced  by Sauvageau  and  Radais.   In  their
large "Traite clinique de L'Actinomycose Humaine,"
Poncet and  Berard ascribe actinomycosis as  due to
a polymorphous fungus  of  the  genus  oospora or
nocardia,  designating the organism consistently as
Actinomyces bovis.
  A.  Fischer,  professor of botany  in  Leipzig,  in
1898, places  the streptotrices among  the true fungi,
and denies that they really have anything in common
with bacteria.  This is an  important statement be-
cause it  is made by a botanist ex professione.  The
fructification by conidia, observed in " Streptothrix
actinomyces," needs  further study  in  comparison
with that of other hyphomycetes, and Fischer does
not fully believe that  this, the most important strep-
tothrix, completes its developmental cycle in artificial
culture.   He surmises that it grows as a mould upon
grass and grain, through which the infection  more
frequently takes   place.    Behla  expresses  similar
views.
  Now  the  common  morphologic  characteristic of
these plants is the branching unicellular mycelium;
they multiply by acrogenous spores or conidia and are
also reproduced from  mycelial fragments.  The club-
shaped  peripheral thickenings  of certain actinomy-
cetes,  frequently  mistaken for conidia or asci, are
accidental formations under parasitic conditions and
are practically absent in the artificial cultures as well
as in some cases of actinomycosis. The confederation 
13
of all streptotrices, or ray fungi, is therefore perfectly
natural and, as stated, this may be regarded as fully
accomplished  in  1892.   The question now  is  what
shall this species be named and where classified ?
  In answering this question it seems that the argu-
ments already set forth by Gasperini, Berestneff and
especially Lachner are fully competent to satisfactorily
settle the matter.
  As regards  the  name the  principle of  priority is
clearly the determining factor.   As already set forth,
Cohn, in 1875, named one of these organisms strepto-
thrix ; in the course of years this was largely replaced
by cladothrix ; in 1889 De Toni and Trevisan  intro-
duced the term nocardia, and in 1892  Sauvageau  and
Radais placed  all the organisms  of this class under
the oospora of Wallroth 1831, claiming that the organ-
isms correspond best to this species of hyphomycetes.
In 1877 Harz  named the fungus of actinomycosis the
actinomyces, and Gasperini,Terni and Berestneff have
applied this name to  the whole group.  Many other
names given individual varieties, such as Discomyces
pleuriticus Rivolta 1884, Actinocladothrix Affanassiew
1888, etc.,  are, together with nocardia,  so  recent as
compared  with the others that they hardly require
any further consideration at this time.
  Cohn's streptothrix, the name given the first spe-
cies discovered and which  has  been extensively used
(Rossi-Doria,  Kruse and others), would  therefore be
appropriate had  it not  already been  introduced by
Corda, in  1839, in order to designate an entirely dif-
ferent  family  of hyphomycetes,  and, according to
Saccardo, there are today four species with this name.
As can be seen at once from  Corda's original descrip-
tion, our fungi cannot possibly be classed  with this
group :
  " Streptothrix n. g.: flocci erecti, septato articulati,
virgato ramosi, ramis ramulisque alternis, articulatis,
spiraliter tortuosis sporis  simplicibus, terminalibus
apiculo suffultis,  aut axillaribus sessibus hylo adfixis ;
nucleo furino; guttullarum olarum pleno ;  episporio
crasso."
  In modern   mycology streptothrix  in this  sense
would be one of the varieties of botrytis of the mould
family ascomycetes. 
14
   It has already been made clear that  it is  utterly
 impossible  to  arrange the  organisms  in  question
 under bacteria as a form of cladothrix.  All botanists
 are agreed that the mode of branching of the strepto-
 trices definitely  exclude this possibility.   As  long
 ago as 1882 Zopf wrote that genuine branching is not
 possible for bacteria,  and if he himself, as  well as
 subsequent writers, had heeded this rule,  much of the
 confusion which resulted would have been avoided.
 It may therefore be taken for granted that a plant,
 without  chlorophyll, composed of  a  true branching
 mycelium with spore-bearing hyphae is a true  fungus
 and not a bacterium.
   Thus there remain but two terms, namely oospora
 and actinomyces, to choose from.
   Sauvageau and Radais assigned streptothrix and
 actinomyces to the genus oospora of the mucedineae
 of the hyphomycetes largely because of the similarity
 in the verbal descriptions.   Thus this section of the
 mucedineae are characterized by  Saccardo in part as
 follows: "Conidiaex apicehypharum libere nascentia.
 —Conidia  globosa, ellipsoides, suboblonga vel  fusi-
 formis," and in the description of oospora it  reads:
 " Hyphae breves, subsimplices; condia  globosa vel
 suboblonga."
   Sauvageau and  Radais note,  however, that  the
 streptotrices are distinguished from oospora by the
 narrowness  of  their filaments  and  the  absence  of
 transverse septa.
   Lachner shows that  the only resemblance between
 oospora and the organisms in question consists in the
 production  of chains of  spores.  The spores  of  the
 oospora are 20 times as large as the spores of  the ray
 fungi, have a thick colorless wall with endosporium
 and exosporium as well as pigmented contents.  The
 oospora are perfect giants as compared with the ray
 fungi and are  formed  of  thick branching  chains of
 rather short cells with double contured  walls and a
 fatty  and granular protoplasm.  Such  differences in-
 crease in  importance when we consider that  we are
 dealing  simply with external appearances because a
 most  important morphologic  characteristic,  namely
the ascus-form, is absent and without this full identifi-
cation is imposible. 
                              i5

   Inasmuch as the fungi in question are not readily
placed  among any  of  the  known  hyphomycetes  it
becomes necessary for  the present to consider them
as a separate group, following the example of  Rossi-
Doria,  Gasperini,  Kruse, Lachner and  others,  and
according  to the principle  of  priority,  to designate
this  group as actinomyces, as already carried out  by
Gasperini,  Berestneff  and   Lachner.    The   term
actinomyces  has  certain  additional advantages over
streptothrix:  Though  first introduced  by  Harz  as
descriptive of the radiating appearance of the actino-
myces  in the tissues, it is  equally descriptive of  the
radiating arrangement of  the threads of nearly all  the
actinomycetes  as  seen  especially in pure cultures ;
and  then it  is particularly serviceable in  the  English
language because  so  readily  translatable  into  the
equally significant and appropriate ray fungus.

  Note.—Perroncito (Deutsche Zeitschr. f. Thiermed. und Veterindr-Patho-
logie,  v, 35) states that Dr. Piretta declares that Mayen (Linnea, 1827, v,
433) used the word actinomyces to designate something else than here indi-
cated, but I am not aware that the word has since been used in any other
significance than ray fungus.

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