THE AMERICAN MONTHLY 



[January, 



groups of three to six grains; various 

 shapes of the grains are shown in fig. 

 21. These grains have a peculiar 

 rough look on the surface which it is 

 difficult to represent in a drawing. 

 Different parts of the root differ 

 somewhat in structure, as the starch- 

 grains of one part are smaller, lighter 

 colored, and smoother (fig. 22 a), 

 v/hile some portions, probably of the 

 bark, exhibit cells of an oblong, rec- 

 tangular shape, with finely punctate 

 cell-walls (fig. 22 /5). The spiral ves- 

 sels are large and coarsely marked 

 (fig. 23), and some of them appear 

 nearly square. In all the samples of 

 turmeric that I have examined, more 

 or less starch from other plants was 

 found, usually consisting of rice-starch 

 (fig. 24 3) and wheat-starch (fig. 23 c) 

 but in some samples I found also a 

 large-grained starch (fig. 24 a) prob- 

 ably of some kind of arrow-root, or 

 else from the white roots of turmeric, 

 as this is sometimes sold as arrow- 

 root. These granules are as color- 

 less as wheat-starch, polarize with 

 narrow bands, yet v/ider than potato- 

 starch, and are somewhat less quickly 

 dissolved by potash, but finally dis- 

 solve almost completely (fig. 27 ^). 



The yellow grains of the turmeric- 

 starch are quickly and deeply stained 

 by iodine as any other starch, but do 

 not show so clear a blue color on the 

 addition of sulphuric acid as do the 

 whiter starches. The starch (fig. 

 22 a) gives a very deep clear-blue 

 color by this process. Potash swells 

 the yellow turmuric-starch to several 

 times its former bulk, but the shape 

 is still preserved and the sack-like 

 membrane of the starch-grains re- 

 mains visible even when heat is used 

 (fig. 27 a). The yellow grains of 

 turmeric-starch do not polarize in my 

 hands with or without selenite. A 

 quantity of thin, colorless, irregular 

 scales, exhibiting no trace of structure 

 (fig. 25) are seen in ground turmeric, 

 but their origin is uncertain. The 

 earthy adulterants consisting of small 

 masses of aggregated granular parti- 

 cles (fig. 28) which separate by pres- 



sure into fine angular particles and 

 disperse in the water, would easily be 

 recognized by any observer as foreign 

 to any vegetable substance. 



o 



Examination of Blood-Stains 

 by Reflected Light. 



In the examination of blood-stains 

 I have used with great satisfaction 

 Beck's illuminator with a ^-inch 

 objective. 



With the aid of this instrument I 

 have been able to examine and meas- 

 ure blood-corpuscles in place on a 

 steel instrument that had been ex- 

 posed in the woods for two winters. 

 When the corpuscles are somewhat 

 disintegrated, their form and dimen- 

 sions are still clearly seen by this 

 method. 



I have a curiosity, in a legal point 

 of view, — an axe which has lain in 

 the open air in the forest three years, 

 and which is but little rusted ; some 

 parts of it are quite bright and shin- 

 ing. I think no one would suspect 

 that it had been exposed to the 

 weather for even one winter. 

 Yours very truly, 

 Moses C. White, M. D. 



Professor of Pathology in the 

 Medical Departmetit of 

 Yale College. 

 New Haven, Ct. 



The Bacteria.* 



Billroth believes that all forms of 

 bacteria are but different stages in 

 the growth of a single organism, 

 which he names Coccobacteria septica. 

 . He supposes that this organism ex- 

 ists in two forms, viz. : the coccus- 

 form, when it appears as minute, 

 round cells, and the bacteria-form 

 when it is elongated or rod-shaped. 

 He then distinguishes the different 

 forms by their size. The coccus- 

 forms are named micro-, mesa- and 

 mega-coccus ; the bacteria-forms are 



* Abstract of some remarks by the President 

 before the New York Microscopical Society, 

 January 6th, 1882. 



