242 THE AMERICAN MONTHLY [July 



spine) 0.24, basal breadth (at beginning of enlargement) 

 0.06, terminal breadth (including side spines) 0.15. 

 Habitat. —Fossil in the rocks of Barbados. 



Bifurcated Double-ended Crystal From Asthmatic Sputum 



EPHRAIM CUTTER, M. D., hh. D. 



NEW YORK CITY. 



Twelve years ago or more, in studying the kinship of 

 asthma and hay fever I encountered tliis crystal in the ex- 

 pectoration of the late Col. W. T. Holt of Denver Colo. It , 

 differs from any I have met with. The artist has given 

 merely the outlines. The double terminals were round like 

 needles. The angles at the center were beautiful right 

 angles as accurately shown in fig 1. Thickness of crystal 

 about the distance between the angles. Color white 

 with a tinge of cream tint. Chemical nature unknown. 

 The ends remind us of uric acid but in a 43 years acquain- 

 tance I never saw uric acid with a re-entrant angle, go- 

 in": ahead of cholesterine. 



To the clinician, tlie technical nature of this crystal is 

 not absolutely neccesary though desirable. The surgeon 



cutting for stone is most concerned in the removal^ — the 

 analysis comes later. 



For more than 30 years the morphology of sputum 

 has been studied in America. The number and variety 

 of sputum gravelly matters found is surprising. It 

 seems as if every gravel-stone or crystal found in human 

 urine and dung was also found in the sputum. Crystals 

 of oxalate of lime, phosphate of lime, triple phosphate 

 and cystine uric acid, etc., are met within perfection. 



