130 THE AMERICAN MONTHLY May, 



with weird, bizarre, awry and anfractuous, amoeboid 

 shapes. 



3. Serum is clear and free, as a rule with some excep- 

 tions, from any form elements save the fibrin filaments 

 which are so exquisitely minute and subtile as to be 

 clinically invisible. 



MORPHOLOGY OF TUBERCULOUS BLOOD. 



Red discs. Pale, ill-outlined, coloring matter not well 

 held, sticky, adhesive, do not as a whole form in rouleaux 

 nor settle into separate, segregate, distinct, uniform dis- 

 positions over the field. Clot into ridges, irregular win- 

 rows and huddled masses like frightened sheep; at times 

 so adherent as to be drawn out in the death movements 

 like molasses candy or into acute pointed ovals. They 

 are generally lessened in number and often present 

 themselves in half sizes which some term the "third cor- 

 puscles" of the blood. As nature cures tuberculosis, 

 (and she does sometimes cure tuberculosis) there will be 

 seen a turning towards the type of healthy blood even 

 before the cavities are healed, and there will be seen at- 

 tempts at rouleaux and segregation as in health. 



2. Leucocytes. — Generally abnormally enlarged by en- 

 tophytal growths, to varying sizes. One beautiful and 

 useful test of the microscope as to treatment is the 

 bringing the enlarged leucocytes down to nominal size. 

 Amoeboid movements are not different from those in 

 health. Tuberculosis is not the only enlarger of the leu- 

 cocytes. Hence, this point must not be relied on alone. 



3. (a) Seru7n. Fibrin filaments enlarged, massive, 

 completely filling the serum interspaces between the red 

 discs and leucocytes with a finely woven net-work of 

 close acutely angled, irregular meshes. These strong 

 fibrin filaments and close meshes cause the irregularities 

 in the appearance of the red discs on the slide after their 

 removal from the blood stream and their death. 



