MEDICAL mycology has failed to interest more than a few practitioners, even those whose specialties include mycotic diseases. We believe the fault lies in the complicated nature of the methods, which can be simplified so that every physician may become proficient in dealing with the fungi encountered in his field.
In recent years, simplification of many phases of medical mycology has been carried out to an admirable degree. The first laudable attempt in book form was that of Jacobson1 in 1932. The texts by Lewis and Hopper,2 in 1939; Schwartz,3 in 1943; Conant, Martin, Smith, Baker and Callaway,4 in 1944, and the revision of Henrici's text by Skinner, Emmons and Tsuchyia,5 in 1947, have created a new wave of popularity for this subject. Other workers in this field have also made valuable contributions.
The usual methods of culture in mycology remain so antiquated, inconvenient, time-and-space-consuming,