Laboratory Identification of Pathogenic Fungi Simplified

As stated by the authors, the objective of this monograph is to furnish "an aid to the teaching of the essentials in the identification of the pathogenic fungi to the beginner, and a bench companion for the bacteriologist engaged in mycologic diagnosis." This objective is admirably accomplished. The fungi discussed are limited to the pathogenic fungi encountered in North America, being, with few exceptions, members of the class of Fungi Imperfecti. Their means of identification consists of a description of the genus, together with descriptions of the various species. These are correlated with growth characteristics, macroscopic and microscopic, on media selected for growing identifying forms. In addition, there are black and white photographs of the colony formations and photomicrographs of culture forms. Such information is presented for each species discussed. The descriptive portion of the monograph names very briefly the type of disease caused by the species. The descriptions of the cultural and microscopic characteristics are concise and adequate. The appendix contains recipes for the various culture media. The photographs are technically good and the bibliography is extensive.