MUCUS. 81 



either become scattered or else accumulate round the unchanged 

 internal cell, and often exhibit for some time the phenomena of 

 molecular motion. Only a few epithelium-cells are observable; 

 those that are present are full, round, and often closely resemble 

 the large mucus-vesicles. I have likewise observed these 

 epithelium-cells, which I regard as characteristic of a lower 

 stage of development, in nasal mucus. (See fig. 14, d, e, /.) 



The mucus secreted in chronic blennorrhoea of the vagina and 

 bladder is, according to Gruby, of a yellowish white colour, and 

 slightly thready. It quickly renders water turbid, and deposits 

 white flocks at the bottom of the vessel : in other respects it 

 resembles the former varieties of mucus. Under the micro- 

 scope we observe a small number of yellowish white vesicles, 

 some with a capsule, granular contents, and a central cell, 

 some with merely a capsule and a central cell, and some that 

 are composed of an aggregation of granules, without any cap- 

 sule whatever. 



Gruby found that the lochial discharge, 1 a short time after 

 delivery, is of the colour of blood, is possessed of an animal 

 odour, is only slightly thready, and when dried leaves a red 

 pulverisable mass ; it consists of hsematoglobulin, fibrin, (pro- 

 bably also albumen,) and vaginal mucus : under the microscope 

 we observe an amorphous thready mass, blood-corpuscles, mu- 

 cus-vesicles with capsules and aggregated granular molecules, 

 and finally epithelium- cells. Very shortly before delivery we 

 can observe nothing in the vaginal mucus beyond the true 

 mucus-corpuscles (fig. 14, ,) and epithelium-cells ; but very 

 soon after delivery the large mucus-vesicles, with granular con- 

 tents (molecular granules) and delicate capsules, make their 

 appearance. Fig. 16, a, exhibits these cells, and is copied from 

 the plate in Gruby' s work. On the second day after delivery 

 vesicles with a central cell (fig. 16, b] are visible, the mucus 

 becomes less dense, the blood-corpuscles diminish, and the large 

 mucus-vesicles increase in number. On the third day the red- 

 dish lochial discharge contains yellow vesicles with granular 

 contents and central cells. On the fourth day the discharge is 

 considerably less red, and contains white stringy flocculi. On 

 the fifth day the mucus contains grayish white, viscid flocculi, 



1 Scherer's observations on this subject have been already given : see Vol. I, p. 338. 



n. 6 



