Paper, 'Note on Dr Fenton Evans’ paper on the pathogenic fungus of malaria' by William Turner Thiselton-Dyer

Description

Thiselton-Dyer writes: 'The abstract of this paper ["On the demonstration by staining of the pathogenic fungus of malaria, its artificial cultivation, and the results of inoculation of the same"] published in this volume of the "Proceedings" contains (p. 200) the following statement: "Alteration in the chemical composition of the nutrient medium . . . elicited the interesting fact that, under these circumstances, the organism can pass to a more highly developed state, displaying the structure and fructification of a highly organised fungus, but differing in certain important features from any fungus hitherto described." This statement will remain on record, and can hardly fail to cause some perplexity to future students of the aetiology of malaria. I was present at the reading of the paper. The fungus exhibited was undoubtedly "highly organised". It was in point of fact a typical Mucor, and my friend Professor Marshall Ward, who was also present, was disposed to regard it as identical with the form known as Mucor racemosus. The identification was so unmistakable that I utterly fail to understand in what "important features" the fungus differed "from any fungus hitherto described". In the face of the undoubted fact that the fungus was a characteristic Mucor, it seems to me very improbable that it has a genetic relationship with any of the organisms found in the blood, and much more likely that its appearance in the nutrient medium was due to some experimental error.'

Annotations in pencil and ink.

Subject: Pathology / Mycology

Received 12 May 1891. Read 28 May 1891.

A version of this paper was published in volume 49 of the Proceedings of the Royal Society as 'Note on Dr. Fenton Evans’ paper on the pathogenic fungus of malaria'.

Reference number

PP/17/40

Earliest possible date

1891

Physical description

Ink and graphite pencil on paper

Page extent

2 pages

Format

Manuscript