THe Microscope. 115 
lief that this is only one of several ways by which the healthy 
system becomes exposed to their action. 
The immediate future of the study of the causes of disease 
lies in the separation of the coincident phenomena from the real 
cause, and in the identitication of these semi-organized fer- 
ments. The field thus opened is even a more diffleult one than 
of microscopical life; it belongs to pathological chemistry, and 
the methods for its successful exploration have scarcely as yet 
been discovered ; but we may rest confident that the attention 
given to this central point of medical science will not long re- 
main unproductive of practical results— Editorial in Philadel- 
phia Medical and Surgical Reporter. 
—_——= 0 > ___—_ 
A READY METHOD FOR THE DETECTION OF THE 
BACILLUS TUBERCULOSIS. 
Dr. M. B. Hartzell thus writes in the Med. Times, January 
26, 1884: 
Since Koch first announced the discovery of the bacillus 
tuberculosis, methods for its detection have multiplied rapidly. 
Most of these methods, however, are more or less complicated, 
are uncertain, and require too much time for their execution to 
be of use clinically. 
On account of its simplicity, and of the short time required 
to execute it, I wish to add another to the many staining pro- 
cesses already in use. This process appears to me to possess 
decided advantages over all others with which I am acquainted ; 
by means of it the sputa of patients who are supposed to be 
tuberculous can be easily and rapidly examined, and the bacilli 
are so deeply stained that if any are present in the specimen 
under examination they cannot be overlooked, if ordinary care 
is used. The process is briefly as follows: A small quantity of 
sputum is spread as thinly and evenly as possible upon an 
ordinary glass slide; it is allowed to dry, which takes but a 
minute or two, and is then passed slowly several times through 
the flame of an alcohol lamp or Bunsen burner. One or two 
drops of the fuchsin solution, recommended by Gradle, and 
