Fungus Haematodes of the Arm

The term “fungus haematodes” was first used in 1805 to describe a fungating mass affecting the globe of the eye that destroyed its internal organization, and was later found by the Scottish surgeon James Wardrop (whose illustration this is) to originate from the retina. After eliciting that the origin of the tumor was the retina, he also documented its metastasis to the optic nerve, brain, and in rare cases, other parts of the body (such as is seen here).

Observations on Fungus Hematodes or Soft Cancer. James Wardrop, 1809.