104 BEl'OKT OF TllAVELLINCi PATHOLOQIST 



'Peciiniqie 111 Uldiid Examinations 



Sliilfs wiTf kt'j)t in [>mv lysul, iiml after a tiiiu' ciirofully wasliiil and placed in the 

 boxi'S where they were to be stored when Hhns had been nuide. Any tinlling of the surface 

 of the !,'lass improved tile lilni. 



In tlieease of niainmals it was comparatively easy to secure good blood films, but in that 

 of birds, reptiles and fish, there was considerable ditliculty. Unfortunately, owing to an 

 error in the desiiateii of my iMittil. I had to rely mi my Ti-bore with No. 8 shot only, and 

 if a smallish bird was siuit it was nsiiallv ■jUitr deail, and the cutting idl' the head on the spot 

 yielded but little blood. At first I had a man carrying test tubes of citrate solution, but I 

 fouml it very dillicult to have him on the spot at the moment I ran to pick up the bird. 



Later I hit on the plan of carrying three or four '.^ inch by \ inch specimen tubes in the 

 waistcoat pocket, whi( h appeared quite satisfactory. 

 Methfidsor In adijitidii, I always made one or two slides from the blood direct. 



securing blood j ^ ^^^ ^_,, .^f^.,|. j^^- j^^j^j ,^^. ^j^^, ^^^jj ^^ .^|,^^^. ,^|] ^^.^^^^,^. ^^^ ,,,,.^j,| ^^^^ jj^^ 



films ' 1^ 1 . 



large arterv supplying tlii^ gills \vas cut, or in the case of a sniall fish decapitation was 

 pertbrnieil. 



Slides were always used for films to the exclusion of cover glasses, they give a larger 

 area and necessitate much less time and care in making the film. They were all stained with 

 J.,eishman's stain in troughs of the size of the slide, tilm (lownwanls, thereby avoiding deposit. 

 If any ileposit occurs I find it easily removed by leaving the slide in xylol 'M) minutes 

 to "2 hours and tlun wiping gently witii a sniaii linmii of silk handkerchief and rinsing again 

 in the trough. 



Citrate appears to mix with tiie blooil of liii-ijs and tisli ipiitr ditlerentiy from tliat (jf 

 mammals, making a glntinons mixtuie iiiueli nmre dilliriilt to nianipulate bcitli in tlie 

 centrifuge ami in making tilms. 



Before making any similar expeditions I liope to conduct experiments with a view 

 to tinding a better iiu'dinm. I varied the strength of solution, but found none really 

 satisfactory. <lii the otlier hand, on returning iiome, I fo\nid tiiat slides that had been 

 made a long time iigo, and had endured a higii temperature, stained mucli more easily in the 

 ca.se of birils and fish than in that of mammals. 



The .sy.stem of making thick films and deinemoglobinizing to detect extra-corpuscular 

 parasites is not successful with bird (jr fish bloods, in consequence of the mass of nuclei which 

 prevents anything being seen. 



There is also a ditlii'ulty which seems to be due to the temiierature at which one works. 

 It is that when a film dries quickly the cytoplasm of the red corpuscles becomes often filled 

 with little blisters, and this obfuscates anything else contained therein ; so far, I have not 

 found any way of avoiding this when films are made in the midille of the day. 



The citrate difficulty also caused a difference in centrifngalising. I hnve been much 

 di.sappointed in examining films for extra-corpuscular parasites that I knew should exhibit 

 these, and that were made from the usual layer (/.<■., the layer just above the erythrocytes 

 usually occupied by most of the leucocytes) for them in the case of mammal blood. 

 I think there is no doubt that this layer ilifi'ers in bird's blood, and owing to viscosity 

 does not lie at the same level. 



It is a matter of great regret to me that there was no time for systematic dissection, 

 and the obtaining of the blood from the heart, et<-., in a pure state, ami tlie examination of 



