MEMORANDA. 21 



to procure me some of the material for microscopic examina- 

 tion, and sliortly afterwards I received a specimen. It seemed 

 very similar in appearance to a coarse butter, was soft, and 

 easily broken down, but it was dense, and sank in water. On 

 examining it with a half- inch object-glass not a single fatty 

 globule could be seen; neither did ether extract any oil. 

 The mass consisted of a great number of large cells loosely 

 aggregated, each had a clear transparent wall, without a 

 visible nucleus, and contained a light brown granular mass, 

 but which was separated from the cell-wall by a transparent 

 medium. Average size of cell t^o^^ of ^^ inch. It was 

 clear that the material more closely resembled vegetable than 

 animal structure, and the accidental discovery of a fi'agment 

 of fibro-cellular tissue strengthened the idea. I then boiled 

 a portion, and on the addition of iodine procured a dense 

 precipitate of iodide of starch. My next step was to 

 examine the mealy potato, as served at table. The size of 

 the cells was the same, but all were empty, or fiUed only with a 

 transparent fluid, and were puckered on the surface. The 

 presence of the granular mass in the others seemed to indi- 

 cate that the potatoes had been either uncooked or insuffi- 

 ciently boiled, the idea of their being taken raiv seemed 

 incompatible with the loose state of aggregation in which the 

 cells were found. I hazarded the opinion that the patient 

 ate largely of mashed potatoes, and evidently was a suff'erer 

 from a weak digestion, as she was unable to digest the starch 

 they contained. I was then told that the case was one of 

 long-continued dyspepsia, with an excessively irritable state 

 of the stomach and bo\\ els, that the lady could only take 

 farinaceous food, and the doctor did not believe she took any 

 potatoes in any way. The symptoms and "fatty" dejections 

 had lasted for years. I assured my friend that there could 

 be no moral doubt about the facts as revealed by the micro- 

 scope, and next day I received a note from him to the follow- 

 ing eff'ect : 



" Dear I., — I have seen the lady, and you will be gratified 

 to hear that for a very very long time she has almost lived 

 upon mashed potatoes crushed small " (not boiled) . 



I need scarcely add a word iipon the flood of light thus 

 thrown by the microscope upon what otherwise would have 

 been veiled in great mystery ; — the facts speak for themselves. 

 — T. Inman, M.D., Liverpool. 



