In nature there are many kinds of fungi, which have close relations with animals and plants in various ways. Among these fungi, some cause diseases in man. For a long time the biological and biochemical characteristics of fungi and diseases caused by them have been studied by many workers.
At present, superficial fungal infection is widely prevalent, covering all of races and areas, and has been recognized as a serious problem among all nations. Especially soldiers serving in moist and hot areas mostly suffer from athlete´s foot. Despite these circumstances, to our regret, there are no ideal chemotherapeutic agents, but some used now are effective.
Emmons(1933) studied antifungal activities against superficial mycoses with several disinfectants, and Loewenthal (1961, 1964) made a similar study with alcohol.
Griseof ulvin, which Oxford et al. (1939) isolated from Penicillium griseof ulvum, is widely used as a chemotherapeutic agent for superficial mycoses, and its activities were studied by many workers. (Gentles, 1958; William et al., 1958; Bedford et al., 1960; Gentles and Barnes, 1960; Aytoun et al., 1960; Desai, 1960; Harrell et al., 1960; Kaplan and Ajello, 1960; Kirk and Miles, 1960; Lazar, 1960; Maibach and Kligman, 1960; Pipen, 1960; Prazak, 1960; Blank, 1965; El-Nakeeb et al., 1965; -and Woo and Chang 1965). Other compounds tested for their antifungal activities were Candicidin isolated from Streptomyces griseus by Lechevalier et al. (1953), Fungicidin from Actinomyces by Hazen et al. (1950), Mycobacillin from Bacillus subtilis by Majumdar and Bose(1958), Hamycin from Streptomyces pimprina by Bennett(1964), and Amphotericin A and B from the other strains of Streptomyces by Fraser and Knox(1959).
Noguchi et al. (1960) of Japan synthesized Tolnaftate and claimed that it has excellent antifungal activity against superficial fungal infections. Robinson and Rasm(1964), and Robinson and Raskin (1965) carried out clinical trials with Tolnaftate and reported the results indicated that Tolnaftate was highly effective against superficial fungal infections.
Robinson et al. (1964), Fleischmajer (1965), Blank (1965) and Stone et al. (1966) studied antifungal activities with Thiabendazole, Melges (1964) with Candeptin, Olansky (1965) with Nafcillin, Hazen et al. (1953) and Wright et al. (1957) with Nystatin, Fraser and Knox (1959), Kravetz et al. (1961), Rosenthal (1963) and Spinner et al.(1965) with Amphotericin B, and Uts (1965) with various chemical compounds. These in￢vestigators presented data showing that some of those chemicals possessed antifungal
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