Sbction IV., 1905. [ 3 ] Tkans. R. S. C. 



I. — On the Nature and Significance of the so-called " Dast-bodies" of 

 the Blood. (Blutstaubchen or Hœmokonien of H. F. Muller.) 



By Albeet G. Nicholls, M.A., M.D., CM., Assistant Professor of 



Pathology, McGill University; Clinical Assistant in 



Medicine, Montreal General Hospital. 



(Communicatee! by Prof. Adami and read May 23, 1905.) 



A few years ago, while studying in Vienna, the writer had an 

 opportunity of seeing for the first time a "fourth element" of ,,the 

 blood, then attracting some little attention through the observations of 

 ÏÏ. F. Millier, of the Klinik Nothnagel. This investigator, in a classic 

 paper entitled " Ueber einen bisher nicht beachteten Formbestandtheil 

 des Blutes" (Centrablatt f. allgem. Pathologie u. path. Anatomic, Ko. 

 13, 1896), described certain minute particles which he found in the 

 blood of a patient suffering from Addison's disease, for which he pro- 

 posed the names " Blutstaubchen " or "Hœmokonien." In a fresh 

 preparation of the blood could be seen countless minute refractile bodies, 

 manifesting active molecular movement, which at first sight resembled 

 micrococci or fine fat-droplets. They varied extremely in numbers, 

 being at times difficult to find, but were never absent from normal 

 blood or the samples of pathological blood which he examined. The 

 bodies were usually globular, rod-shaped, or in pairs, varying in diameter 

 up to one micromillimeter. By ringing the coverslip with vaseline, 

 they could be preserved several days. They were not stained by osmic 

 acid, were not soluble in acetic acid, and probably not in ether. From 

 their reactions, they were apparently neither fat nor escaped neutrophilic 

 granulations. Moreover, owing to certain precautions in the technique, 

 they were not introduced into the blood from without. They were, 

 further, to be distinguished from Kahane's micramaebœ, found in the 

 blood from cancers and cancer patients, which possess cilia, and have 

 independent movement. Miiller's final conclusion was that these inter- 

 esting bodies were not destruction products, nor were they derived 

 from the hœmatoblasts, but, on the whole, were probably allied to fat 

 or albumin. 



Previous to Millier, several observers seem to have noted the pres- 

 ence in the blood of minute particles, resembling fine fat-droplets, 

 distinct from the erj^throcytes, white cells, and blood-platelets. Few, 

 however, seem to have thought it worth while to study them minutely. 

 It may be remarked that it is not always possible to identify these 

 particles, which, by some at least, were regarded as fat, with the " Dust- 



