The Parasitic Colonization of the Horny Layer in Tinea Versicolor

Observations of vertical sections and of tape strippings of areas infested with tinea versicolor indicate that because of their dimorphic state, these parasites can colonize the horny layer. Mycelial hyphae progress downwards into the intercellular spaces of the horny cells where they feed on nonkeratinous substances and extrude proliferating yeast cells which form clusters in nest-like cavities. The yeast-mycelial conversion gives rise to new mycelial hyphae and the cycle is complete. The parasites are actually lodged in tunnels and nests hollowed out in the horny layer. A dynamic balance between the cycle of the parasites and the renewal rate of the horny layer is responsible for the long…

Contribution to the Knowledge of Dermatophytic Invasion of Hair

We have used the scanning electron microscope to investigate the changes that occur in scalp hair during infection with Trichophyton violaceum . We provide information on the morphology of these dermatophytes and present evidence that their hyphae dig tunnel-like burrows into the hair shaft, dissociating hair into keratin fibrils.

A Comparison of the Histodynamics of Sebaceous Glands and Epidermis in Man: a Microanatomic and Morphometric Study

A ballistometer for the study of the plasto-elastic properties of skin.

The ballistrometer is based on the "drop impact" of a body onto a stationary surface. A collision in one dimension is provoked by allowing a bard body to drop from a given height onto the skin surface to be tested. After the collision, the impacting body undergoes a variable number of rebounds decreasing in amplitude. By measuring the height of the rebounds, the amount of energy returned by the tissue is calculated in terms of coefficient of restitution e. The equipment, consisting of a hammer unit, a feeder-amplifier, and a plotter, is described. Ballistometry has been carried out on skin areas of 46 normal subjects ranging in age from 8 to 80 years, as well as on pathologic and cadaveric …

Photomicrography of skin by ultraviolet light.

Skin sections superimposed on fine-grained photographic plates were exposed to ultraviolet light (2580 A wavelength). The images obtained, which reproduced the microanatomy of tissue in the process of ultraviolet photoabsorption, were studied under the microscope. Since absorption is proportional to the concentration of such biologically important chromophore-bearing substances as nueleoproteins and melanoproteins, the method gives information on the content and distribution of these substances in normal and altered tissue.