In 1877, pathologist Otto Bollinger described the presence of Actinomyces bovis in cattle, and shortly afterwards, James Israel discovered Actinomyces israelii in humans.
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The purulent leakage via the sinus cavities contains "sulphur granules," not actually sulphur-containing but resembling such particles.
The agents of actinomycosis are now known to be endogenous organisms of the mucous membranes, in most cases Actinomyces israelii, a species named after surgeon James Israel, who first discovered its presence in humans in the late 1870s.