1888.] MICROSCOPICAL JOURNAL. 109 



that autopsies prove interesting by showing what deviation from normal 

 growth has taken place within the body, and it is by associating these condi- 

 tions with the symptoms recorded in the history of the case that we are en- 

 abled to I'elieve the sufferings of others similarly afflicted. The microscopist 

 determines the appropriate operative procedure in many a case of tumor. 

 To the microscope we appeal to decide whether or not a patient's kidneys 

 are all right, or whether the applicant for insurance is barred out by Bright's 

 disease. 



Bacteria, microbes, spores, have abounded forages, but they accomplished 

 their life work without hindrance, and the thoughtful doctor of years gone 

 by, bewildered by changes the cause of which he could not see, summoned 

 ' spirits from the vasty deep ' and ascribed to them as miracles that which w^e, 

 by means of our microscopes and culture gelatines, see to be merely the per- 

 formance of a colony of cocci or bacilli. The whole germ theory, with its 

 far-reaching, and, at present, but half comprehended bearings, is a child of 

 the microscope. 



In the detection of certain poisons, in the examination of drugs, in the 

 analysis of drinking water, yes, in every branch and department of medicine, 

 the microscope is the faithful ally, the ubiquitous servant of the disciples of 

 yEsculapius. 



Leavenworth, Kansas, March, 1888. 



Practical study of blood.* 



The blood of the newt is exceedingly favorable for microscopic examina- 

 tion, by reason of the relatively large size of the red corpuscles, which are 

 about >,^o^th of an inch in diameter, or four times greater than the red cor- 

 puscles of human blood ; and also on account of the normal temperature of 

 the blood of the newt being but little beyond that of the atmosphere (hence 

 the term cold blooded) . The corpuscles thus retain their vitality for a con- 

 siderable length of time, so that, if precautions be taken to pi^event evapora- 

 tion of the blood-plasma, any changes in form which the corpuscles undergo 

 can be observed without the aid of hot stages or other artificial means for 

 preventing the temperature of the blood falling. In vertebrate animals, in 

 addition to the blood vascvilar system, there is another system of vessels con- 

 taining a clear colorless liquid with numerous corpuscles, the lymph ; and 

 as in the newt and all amphibians the lymph vessels are relatively large and 

 abundant, in order to obviate the admixture of the lymph with the blood and 

 the consequent confusion of lymph corpuscles with white corpuscles, the 

 blood for examination should be taken direct from the heart. The blood 

 having been so obtained, and evaporation having been prevented by the ap- 

 plication of melted paraffine to the edges of the cover-slip, the members were 

 able to observe the amceboid movements of the white corpuscles, which are 

 essentially similar to those previously noted in the blood corpuscles of the 

 mussel. 



The white corpuscles, which were somewhat smaller than the red cor- 

 puscles, varied in appearance as well as in size. They were all nucleated 

 and granular, l)ut some were more finely granulated than others, and the pseu- 

 dopodia in the coarsely granulated corpuscles were more blunt and rounded 

 than in the finely granulated one. The red corpuscles were all uniform in 

 size and oval in outline, but when viewed upon ^<\^'s^ presented a somewdiat 

 s]:)indle-like or fusiform appearance. Each was of a faint yellow color, ow- 

 ing to the presence of hiemaglobin, a substance peculiar to blood corpuscles, 

 and forming the greater portion of them, the remaining proteid matter being 



* From report in the English Mechanic of a Meeting of the Manchester Microscopical Society. 



