The Microscope. 69 



solution by the eliminating fluids they accumulate in those 

 fluids. Uric acid is more soluble than oxalate of lime or cystine, 

 hence it is natural that the latter are oftenest found in the blood. 

 The phosphates of lime, soda and magnesia accumulate likewise. 

 The physical presence of these salts in the blood, fluids and 

 tissues of the body seems to be a sufficient cause of the patho- 

 logical states we call rheumatism. The proof of this lies in the 

 fact that when these crj^stals are removed along with the other 

 conditions named, a cure is efi'ected. It is true that persons may 

 have the morphology of rheumatic blood, and yet have no pains, 

 no swellings, no troubles that they can detect until they are 

 upset by a cold or some other exciting cause. It will then be 

 more accurate to refer the morphology of rheumatic blood to 

 the domain of predisposing causes, it being comparable to the 

 ammunition in a gun barrel, the cold or other exciting cause 

 being like the pulling of the trigger. The explosion may be 

 called rheumatism. If the gun is not loaded, or the trifforer is 

 not pulled, there is no explosion. So if the predisposing and 

 the exciting causes are not present we cannot have rheumatism. 

 Once the morphology of rheumatic blood was found in a lady 

 apparently in perfect health. She was surprised at the diagnosis, 

 but coming later in contact with an exciting cause, she wrote, 

 "You were right about my rheumatism ;" and thus her case 

 affords an instance of the value of the microscope in medical 

 exploration, (E). Pigment matters. These striking objects are 

 very impressive, and give the observer an idea that they come 

 from the morphology of air, and hence are foreign bodies from 

 outside the body. Giving all due allowance for this source of 

 error, long study has convinced the writer that they, some of 

 them, belong to the morphology of rheumatic blood. Their pe- 

 culiar beauty of emerald green, bronze, yellow, black, in various 

 shades, all invisible and unknown without the use of the micro- 

 scope, opens up a new and lovely field of medical thought. 

 What their chemical nature is is unknown. This is a nice 

 problem for solution. For our purpose, which is clinical medi- 

 cine, it is enough for us to know their presence and to get 

 rid of them by putting Nature's means of elimination in good 

 order and giving her force enough to remove them. This, 

 to us, seems the true way to practice medicine. 1, Cystine, 



