INTESTINAL EVACUATIONS IN CHOLERA. 151 



At the commencement of dysentery, the intestinal discharges 

 consist chiefly of epithelium, and of a fluid poor in albumen, and 

 mixed with a little true faecal matter ; when the process assumes 

 a well-marked croupous character, the evacuations consist chiefly 

 of a mixture of blood and purulent matter, in which we can detect 

 fibrinous exudations, blood-corpuscles, cylindrical epithelium, and 

 pus-corpuscles. When the disease runs a less severe course, clots 

 of glassy mucus from the follicles of the colon predominate ; 

 moreover, crystals of triple phosphate may always be observed ; 

 the fluid is extremely rich in albumen, being a true exudation of 

 the blood-plasma; biliary matters may be recognised in the 

 alcoholic extract of its solid residue by nitric acid, as well as by 

 Pettenkofer's test. 



The stools in Asiatic cholera have been submitted to many 

 analyses, which, however, have led to few results, insomuch as the 

 simultaneous characters of the blood and of the cholera-process 

 in general, have not been taken into consideration. The only 

 peculiarities which we find in the stools in cholera, are the above 

 mentioned shreds of cylindrical epithelium, an extraordinary 

 quantity of water, a little albumen, very little biliary matter, and 

 a relatively large amount of salts, amongst which, according to 

 the evidence of all observers, the chloride of sodium predominates, 

 and often to such a degree as to exceed in amount all the organic 

 matters. The rice-water appearance of such stools simply depends 

 on the suspended epithelium. The rose-red tint which the fluid 

 assumes on the addition of nitric acid would be characteristic of 

 these stools, if the same were not also often observed in typhus. 

 These evacuations contain only from 1*2 to 2'4-g- of solid con- 

 stituents. (Becquerel,* Guterbock,t Schmidt. J) 



The intimate connection of these intestinal transudations with 

 pathologico-chemical processes in general, finds its natural place 

 under the head of "the Metamorphoses of the Animal Tissues/' 

 and will be noticed in the third volume. 



Intestinal concretions are rare in man and in carnivorous 

 animals, but are comparatively common in herbivorous animals, 

 and especially in the horse. They consist chiefly of phosphate 

 of ammonia and magnesia, with some phosphate and carbonate of 

 lime, which have deposited themselves around a fragment of 

 undigested vegetable or animal food. Hence their quantitative 



* Arch. ge'n. de He'd. 4 Sen T. 21, p. 192. 



t Journ. f. pr. Ch. Bd. 48, S. 450. 



% Charakteristik der Cholera, u. s. w. S. 79, 81. 



