INTESTINAL CONCRETIONS. 405 



nary weight. In colour they are most commonly yellow, 

 but sometimes more or less gray or brown. Internally they 

 present a laminated appearance like that of the earthy-phos- 

 phate calculi, or assume a radiating character, when they con- 

 tain woody fibre or hair. Their nucleus is usually a foreign 

 body, a fruitstone, a splinter of bone, a needle, or woody fibre. 

 Children describes a calculus that was formed in the colon, 

 round a plum-stone as a nucleus. It contained phosphate of 

 lime 45*34, ammoniaco-magnesian phosphate 5*16, carbonate of 

 lime 25-20, resinous matter 3'90, woody fibre 20-30, It like- 

 wise contained traces of hydrochloric and sulphuric acids. The 

 cortex of another incrusted plum-stone contained phosphate of 

 lime, albuminous matter, fat, and a sulphur compound. 



An intestinal concretion examined by Davy consisted of 

 ammoniaco-magnesian phosphate, phosphate of lime, carbonate 

 and sulphate of lime with traces of silica 56 ; fibrous matter 

 41 ; animal matter 2'5. 



A concretion found in the intestines of a boy who had taken 

 carbonate of magnesia for a long period continuously, con- 

 tained no nucleus, neither did it present the ordinary laminated 

 appearance ; it consisted entirely of magnesia. 



The flattened concretions found by Schonlein in the intes- 

 tinal ulcers of a patient with enterophthisis consisted, according 

 to Kastner, of phosphate of lime, urate of ammonia, and animal 

 matter. 



Fatty matters combined with earthy phosphates are sometimes 

 discharged in large quantities : hard concretions of this nature, 

 varying from the size of a pea to that of a musket-ball, somewhat 

 compressed, smooth, of a yellow waxy appearance, and inter- 

 nally white and horny, were passed by a phthisical girl, and con- 

 sisted, according to Lassaigne, of 74 parts of acid fatty matters, 

 margarin and olein, 21 of a substance resembling fibrin, 4 of 

 phosphate of lime, and 1 of chloride of sodium: a similar mass 

 analysed by Robiquet contained 60 parts of a fatty matter re- 

 sembling spermaceti, 30 parts of phosphate of lime, and 8 of 

 animal matter. I have likewise had opportunities of examining 

 substances of this nature discharged by the rectum, but they 

 were soft, and had a caseous appearance. They formed irre- 

 gular, whitish, easily compressible, greasy masses ; contained a 

 large quantity of acid fat (margarin, olein, butyrin, and fibrous 



ii. 30 



