It is often claimed that there is an obesity epidemic in affluent countries, and that obesity is one of the most serious public health problems in the developed world. I will argue that obesity is not an ‘epidemic’ in any useful sense of the word, and that classifying it as a public health problem requires us to make fairly controversial moral and empirical assumptions. While epidemiological ev...

Ringworm of the scalp is caused by several species of fungi; the most common being the Microsporon audouini, capable of causing widespread outbreaks, and Microsporon lanosum. Other species of fungi causing sporadic tinea capitis are the Microsporon fulvum, Achorion schoenleinii (favus), and other trichophyton organisms. This paper will deal chiefly with the Microsporon audouini infections. In r...