PEOOEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 



Medical Microscopical Society. 

 Friday, June 19ih, 1874. 



Osteosarcoma. — Mr. Needham read a paper upon this subject, 

 taking as a foundation the case of a young man who entered one of 

 the metropolitan hospitals with what appeared to be an osteo- 

 sarcoma of the head of the tibia. Hard tumours, small in size, were 

 felt in the groin, as well as deeply beneath the muscles of the 

 thigh. The patient eventually died from chest complication, fre- 

 quent haemoptysis being a leading symptom. 



At the post-mortem the growth on the leg was found, as dia- 

 gnosed, to be an osteo-sarcoma, while similar growths were found in 

 various parts of the body, and especially in the lungs. Micro- 

 scopically the growth on the tibia — which was subperiosteal — had 

 the characters of true osteo-sarcoma ; but elsewhere only calcareous 

 material was found, instead of bone with lacunae, &c. 



Specimens and drawings illustrative of the case were exhibited. 

 The case will be published fully elsewhere. 



Mr. Golding Bird objected to the term osteo-sarcoma, since 

 calcareous deposit in lieu of bone was found, except in one place. 

 He considered the earthy deposit as accidental rather than essential 

 to the growth as indicating degeneration. 



Dr. Pritchard did not consider calcification in all cases a degene- 

 ration ; from its early appearance at times in morbid tissues he 

 considered it as much a part of the growth in which it occurred as 

 was true bone in an osteo-sarcoma. 



Mr. Needham, in reply, agreed with Dr. Pritchard in not con- 

 sidering the calcification as degenerative, and was willing to con- 

 fine the term osteo-sarcoma to the parts of the growth only where 

 osseous tissue with lacunae could be found. 



Imbedding in Elder Pith. — Mr. Golding Bird read a paper on 

 the method adopted abroad of cutting sections of tissues imbedded 

 in elder pith, and packed in a microtome especially adapted for the 

 purpose. The various steps in the operation were exhibited and ex- 

 plained at the same time. The principle on which the process 

 depends is the expansion of the dried elder pith on the addition of 

 water, so that if packed in the tube of the microtome in the dried 

 state, and then allowed to imbibe moisture, anything previously 

 imbedded in it is firmly gripped. The paper will appear in extenso 

 in the 'Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science." 



vol. XIV. NEW SER. E E 



