1892.] MICROSCOPICAL JOURNAL. 45 



MEDICAL MICROSCOPY. 



Prevention of Influenza. — The discovery of the influenza baciHus 

 described under Bacteriology indicates the great importance to be at- 

 tached to removing the sputum of patients suffering from influenza. 

 The germs of this disease, it is now known, can be communicated by 

 many of the means by whicii diphtheria and tuberculosis are transmit- 

 ted. A three-grain sulpliate of quinine tabloid taken daily at breakfast 

 during the continuance of an epidemic is found to be a remarkable pre- 

 ventative of the development of these germs. 



Actinomycosis again. — At the Pathological vSociety of Lontlon Mr. 

 Kanthack recently reported a case from Madura. A fungus growth 

 upon a hand that had been amputated was placed in ether or chloroform, 

 and afterwards well washed in caustic potash. When examined under 

 the microscope small rounded bodies showing rays were noticed. Out- 

 side the ray-like mass was an area of round cells, which in turn was 

 enclosed in a fibrous ring. The reaction to staining was identical to 

 actinomvces. — Lar/cei, yanuary 2J. i8g2. 



The Microscope in Diagnosis. — Dr. Ephriam Cutter has an 

 article in the January Microscope from which the following data is 

 gleaned : 



The microscope is useful for examining the blood, sputum, faeces, 

 urine, skin, secretions, eyes, ears, nose, glands, milk, and vomitus. 



The microscope has shown that rheumatism is a disease of the blood 

 first and next of the fibrous and cartilaginous tissues. Without the in- 

 strument no certain diagnosis can be made. With it, five varieties can 

 be distinguished : Cystinic, Oxalic, Phosphatic, Uric, and Hippuric. 



In rheumatism the heart is generally enlarged, while the microscope 

 shows this to be due to the adhesive condition of the i"ed corpuscles. 

 to the strong and more numerous fibrin filaments and skeins, to blood 

 crystals and to minute clots formed in rheumatic blood. 



Embolism can also be diagnosed with the microscope. 



Dust injurious to the Lungs. — Dr. Wm. B. Canfield, of Balti- 

 more, has found pulmonary diseases to be caused in part by the inhal- 

 ing of dust, and the miciX)SCope to be the best means of diagnosis. 



He examined sputum from patients that were suffering from pul- 

 monar}- symptoms, and the microscope showed the sputum to contain 

 carrier cells in abimdance. In all cases thess contained pigment, and 

 in some instances the black crystalline coal could be recognized within 

 these cells. This pigment and foreign material have a tendency to 

 collect at the apices of the lungs and are only present at the bases when 

 the dust is inhaled in excessive amount. 



In diagnosis, physical signs do not yield as much as the microscope. 

 By the microscope we see the cells containing the dust. 



Trichina were taken by Dr. M. A. Gottlieb, of New York, from 

 the biceps muscle at the autopsy of an Italian who entered Bellevue 

 Hospital in the spring of 1890, and who died three weeks after, suffer- 

 ing from trichinosis. The Doctor has recently presented mounted 

 specimens to the N. Y. Society. 



Prize Essay. — The Societe de Medecine, Paris, offers a prize of 

 $300 and a gold medal for the best essay during 1892 on tuberculosis. 



