134 
PROGRESS OF MICROSCOPICAL SCIENCE. 
length varied from the to the of an inch. The presence of 
these filaments readily accounted for the development of the various 
forms hitherto noticed, from the simple haemo-discoid to the more 
complicated varieties. No direct observation of the transformation of 
the filaments into other forms was witnessed, but it seems to me to he 
a fair inference that such change occurs. In addition to the well- 
marked bodies described, there were present epidermic cells, and a 
little oil, and besides many granular or rather molecular bodies, some 
slightly elongated, such as are found in most animal and vegetable in- 
fusions, and upon whose exact nature it would be somewhat hazardous 
to pronounce. These little bodies, as is usually the case, were in rapid 
motion. No connection could be traced between the epidermis and 
the spores ; occasionally, to be sure, a spore would be found upon or 
beneath an epidermic cell, but the occurrence was probably accidental, 
and nothing like the intimate relationship which exists between the 
epidermis and the microsporon furfur was detectable. No hairs were 
visible in any of the preparations, and hence nothing can be said con- 
cerning them. Observation of the circular spores, especially the 
larger ones, with a ^ immersion of Powell and Lealand upon their 
grand binocular stand, the property of my friend Prof. Arnold, leads 
me to suspect that their form is not that of a section of a cylinder 
with central depressions, but rather that they are rings. It is possible, 
however, that in the smaller ones the hole in the ring is occluded by 
subsequently-deposited material. The difficulty of deciding this point 
can be readily appreciated when the minute size of the organisms is 
borne in mind. The following conclusions seem fairly deducible 
from the observations above recorded : The bodies are unquestionably 
vegetable organisms. Their primitive form is probably filamentary. 
From the filament the others are developed. Their presence explains 
the contagiousness of the affection in which they are found, and 
brings it into the class of the Parasitic affections of the Skin. 
Diseased Bone. Giant Bone-cells . — The ‘ British Medical Journal, 
July 13th, gives an article on some important discoveries of Kolliker, 
relative to disease in bone. Eobin has described under the name of 
myeloplaxes , and Virchow and other German histologists under the 
name of giant or colossal cells ( Biesenzellen ), certain multinucleated 
masses situated on the external part of the marrow of bone. These 
bodies have been subjected to careful research by Kolliker ; the 
results of whose investigations, as communicated recently to the 
Wurzburg Pliysico-Medicul Society, point to an intimate connection 
between the presence of these bodies and the process of resorption of 
bone. Kolliker finds that, during resorption in healthy bones and 
teeth, the surface where this process is taking place presents fine 
lacunae (commonly termed Howship’s lacuna?) ; and that these lacunae 
contain giant cells. Generally there is one cell in a lacuna, which it 
closely fits ; sometimes a single cell fills two lacunae ; and in other 
cases there are several cells in a large lacuna. Considering these 
cells to be important agents in the removal of osseous or dental tissue, 
he designates them “ osteoclasts ” (or “ osteophages ”). Lacunae con- 
taining osteoclasts have been found by Kolliker both in the interior 
