PROCEEDINGi^ OF SOCIETIES. 103 



are affected by a given amount of the reagent tlian in tlie case of 

 atroj)ia. 



The red co ^uscles are changed by a 1 to 2 per cent, solution of 

 the reagents , their surfaces become irregular, from involutions and 

 cuppings of the surface ; but scarcely two corpuscles are affected alike. 



The explanation of the changes above mentioned is difficult : that 

 they are of a vital nature seems certain ; the hyaline processes 

 strongly reminding the observer of some of the Pseudoj)ods in the 

 Ehizopodae. The normal prolongations of a white corpuscle are 

 formed of its hyaline substance (protoplasm), together with the 

 granules it contains : but these resulting from the application of 

 atropia and physostigma are free from granules : similar processes 

 can be seen in the yolk spherules of the Batrachia. The result of 

 these experiments would show that no antagonism exists between 

 atropia and physostigma, at least as far as their action on blood 

 corpuscles is concerned : and in proof of this, blood treated with the 

 reagents mixed showed just the same changes as when used sepa- 

 rately. 



Experiments to show the action of curare upon blood corpuscles 

 produced only negative results ; the normal movements going on as 

 usual : yet where a ^ per cent, solution was used these ceased in ten 

 minutes. 



The President remarked that such observations as Dr. Osier's 

 might increase our knowledge of the action of drtigs; and referred 

 briefly to the microscopic observations made recently on blood cor- 

 puscles in syphilis. 



Dr. Payne then read a jjaper " On Certain Points in the Histology 

 of the Omentum." 



The fenestrated portion of the hiiman omentimi consists of fibrous 

 bands or trabeculfe, in which are embedded connective-tissue cor- 

 puscles, and on which is spread a continuous and most uniform layer 

 of endothelial plates : it is with the latter that the present notice is 

 concerned. The best mode of examining them, that of staining with 

 silver, is generally inapplicable in the human subject in consequence 

 of the time which elapses before examination is possible, but the 

 structures can be very well seen either without any reagent at all or 

 after staining with carmine. The attention of the author of the 

 paper was first drawn to the subject on examining the omentum in 

 persons dying of acute tuberculosis, with miliary tubercles in the 

 peritoneum. In these cases were found, around the txibercles, epi- 

 thelial cells in various phases of change : some with nuclei, some 

 almost divided so as to show two cells, and some groups of cells, the 

 shapes of which showed they had been produced by cell division or 

 multiplication. These have been described by several authors (Kind- 

 fleisch, Kundrat, &c.) as showing the origin of tubercle. There were 

 also seen large compound cells, like " myeloid or giant cells," and 

 small masses of adenoid tissue. 



Similar proliferative changes are seen in acute inflammation, and 

 the appearances in the neighbourhood of small cancerous growths are 

 likewise very similar. In the one case they have been recognized as 

 a source of pus cells ; in the other, of new cancerous gi'owth. 



