Actinomycosis, formerly considered a rare disease, is being more and more frequently recognized, for in 1925 Sanford1 collected data on 680 cases. Of these 680 cases, 335 had never been reported in the literature; the information was obtained by direct letters to superintendents of hospitals, state veterinarians, and state health departments. The first case was reported in 1845 by Langenbeck, and was recognized by the sulphur granules found in the pus from vertebral caries. The first case reported in America was by Murphy in 1857, while the first one noted here with pulmonary involvement was reported by Hodenpyl2 in 1890.
The term actinomycosis, according to the approved classification of the present time, includes all organisms with branching mycelia which break up into segments as conidia with clubbed ends and radiating threads. These mycelia may break up into bacillus-like pieces which are nonmotile and may or may not be