1889.] MICROSCOPICAL JOURNAL. 119 



MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETIES. 



Washington, D. C. — E. A. Balloch, Secy. 



Febrtiary, i88g. — 86th meeting. The paper of the evening was by 

 Dr. C. T. Caldwell upon Actinomycosis and will be found upon pages 

 101-4 of this Journal. The discussion of Dr. Caldwell's paper was as 

 follows : 



Dr. Acker said that it was his impression that Dr. Taylor, of the 

 Society, had described a case of this disease occurring in the domestic 

 fowl. Dr. Gibbs called attention to a note in a late number of the 

 Medical News in which the details of a case of this disease, under the 

 care of Dr. Bodamer, in the human subject were given. 



Dr. Blackburn said : My first acquaintance with this disease was 

 about four years ago, when I made the drawings for an essay on this 

 subject which Dr. Bodamer presented to the faculty of the Universitv 

 of Pennsylvania and which took the Clark or the Henry C. Lea prize, 

 I forget which. The disease is easily recognized by the naked eye. 

 I think we sometimes undervalue descriptions of disease as contrasted 

 with microscopical examinations. I do not know whether the growth 

 was sub-periostea! or not. The bone cavity was extensively excavated. 

 Sometimes the fungus will stain as well as the surrounding tissue. I 

 call attention to the large epitheloid cells surrounding the masses of 

 fungus. These I think are inflammation products and show the efforts 

 of nature to limit the disease. 



Dr. Seaman said : The Americans, as a rule, are remarkably free 

 from diseases caused by intestinal parasites and fungi, and I attribute 

 this to the fact that they eat their meat well cooked and not to the fact 

 that the parasites and fungi are destroyed by the gastric juice. 



Dr. Caldwell said : This may be true as regards intestinal parasites, 

 but it is not the fact as regards this fungus. As I have shown in my 

 preceding remarks, the carnivora are free from actinomycosis, and as 

 carnivora eat flesh in a raw state their immunity from the disease 

 must be attributed to the action of the gastric juice on the fungi. 



Dr. Acker showed preparations of Psammoma, a rare form of 

 brain tumor. The brain containing the tumor was from a dissipated 

 man, and was brought him by the attending physician who had observed 

 anomalous cerebral symptoms during the patient's last illness. The 

 brain was normal with the exception of the cerebellum. It was deeply 

 injected and the arteries were extensively calcified. The fourth ven- 

 tricle was filled with a villous growth springing from the lining mem- 

 brane. On microscopical examination this was found to be Psam- 

 moma, a tumor of a villo-sarcomatous nature. The tumor contains 

 chalky concretions, which have the same structure as normal brain-sand 

 and are made up of concentric strata. 



Dr. Acker also showed a female specimen of Trichocephalus dispar, 

 containing ova similar in all respects to those shown in the liver of a 

 rat by Dr. Balloch at the last meeting. 



Miss M. A. Booth, of Longmeadow, Mass., presented to the Society 

 six beautiful mounted slides of diatoms, all foreign, and one fossil, for 

 which the Society desires to return its grateful thanks. 



