CHAPTER X. 



THE COLLECTION AND EXAMINATION OF 

 SECRETIONS AND EXCRETIONS. 



This chapter in introduced as an aid in the exami- 

 nation and collection of specimens of the various excre- 

 tions, in preserving them from deterioration, and in 

 describing them in simple terms according to profes- 

 sional custom. Attention is directed only to such points 

 as may be of value either to the observer, or to another 

 by whom the specimens are to be examined and their 

 significance interpreted. 



From many standpoints, the sputum, in 

 Sputum, disease, possesses very great importance. 



Its bulk is made up of pathological secre- 

 tions, abnormal cellular elements, occasionally tissues 

 and rarely stones, all of which are of great diagnostic 

 significance ; at the same time, it is the vehicle in which 

 the pathogenic agents of many diseases, both local and 

 general, make their exit from the body. From a mere 

 visual examination, the trained observer can detect 

 the presence of features characteristic of certain dis- 

 eases, and abnormal ingredients that are suggestive of 

 disorders of certain organs; while with the microscope 



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