EXAMINATION OF MORBID GROWTHS. 



679 



the polygonal form, the diameter of which is very variable, ordi- 

 narily from l-75th to l-25th of a millimetre. One peculiarity of 

 this, as of the other forms of cancer-cell, is the presence of the 

 granulations of different sizes in their interior ; whereas, in epi- 



Fia. 385. 



thelial cells, the interior is generally, when fresh, of course, 

 homogeneous. In cancer we find the three varieties of granula- 

 tions given by M. Robin. 1 First, the very fine black dots, found 

 in all organic elements, and named by the French, very ap- 

 propriately, poussiere organique. Secondly, the gray granulations, 

 a form somewhat larger ; and, lastly, the fat granulations, distin- 

 guished by the refraction of the light. This first variety of cells 

 contains nuclei, having in their interior invariably one or more 

 nucleoli, both of which retain the characteristic points described 

 above. The large size of the nucleus, in proportion to the 

 diameter of its cell, will at once strike the eye of the careful ob- 

 server. The variable position, also, of the nucleus within the 

 enclosure, appears to us to be peculiar to cancer ; in cells of other 

 structures, the rule is to find the nucleus very nearly in the centre, 

 except with fibro-plastic cells, where the nuclei appear to have a 

 peculiar affinity for the walls. All the varieties of cancer-cells 

 contain very frequently two or more nuclei ; whereas, the epi- 

 thelial, more particularly those found on the surface of the body 

 (where there is most danger of confusion and doubt), but rarely 

 have more than one. Moreover, the cell of epithelium is much 

 larger than that of cancer, yet the cancer-nucleus is twice as large 



1 Tableaux d'Anatomie, &c. par Ch. Robin, Paris, 1851. 



