THE LEUCOCYTES IN ORGANIC FUNCTIONS. 711 



Lenhartz 44 states that "it is not improbable that the majority 

 of cells designated as 'alveolar epithelia 7 are variously altered 

 forms of leucocytes. The protoplasm very frequently shows 

 fine or coarsely-granular fatty metamorphosis, which is charac- 

 terized by the strongly refractive index." 



The irregularity of the granules, and the manner in which 

 they form fibrin, as described by Eanvier, and the peculiar 

 color of the granules is recalled by the following description 

 of the Charcot-Leyden crystals by Lenhartz: "The Charcot- 

 Leyden crystals are delicate, very sharply pointed octahedra 

 which occur in very variable size. They present a sometimes 

 water-clear, transparent, sometimes a slightly yellowish-green, 

 Ehine-wine color; they occur either isolated or in dense col- 

 lections, which here and there are jumbled together, or in 

 uniform rows, following the mucous shreds." The same author 

 also says: "The crystals were first found in the sputum by 

 Friedreich in croupous bronchitis. On the other hand, Leyden 

 had drawn attention to their frequent occurrence in asthmatic 

 expectoration." 



The association with various pulmonary diseases obviously 

 suggests that their presence is pathological, whereas we con- 

 sider their presence in the lung as normal, and their elimination 

 in their recognizable form as an accompaniment of the morbid 

 state. That such is the case is shown by the fact emphasized 

 by Lenhartz that: "The longer the asthmatic subject is free 

 from paroxysms, that is, the more time allowed for the forma- 

 tion of the crystals, the more densely the spirals are studded 

 with these crystals." 



While all these facts sustain our opinion that the lungs 

 show ample evidence of the presence in them of eosinophile 

 cells and of their granules, their identity as offsprings of 

 the neutrophiles should be demonstrable here, as elsewhere, 

 through their chemical properties. Indeed, their identity as 

 daughter-cells of neutrophile leucocytes does not disappear 

 even in the lungs, for both acids and alkalies can dissolve them, 

 while the test common to both neutrophile and eosinophile 

 granules, i.e., insolubility in alcohol, is also applicable here. 



** Lenhartz: Loc. cit. 



