OF VILLI IN CHOLERA . 185 



generated tissue, useless to the economy, and destined 

 to be removed, and their place occupied by new 

 organs, if life had been preserved. 



The changes affecting the capillary vessels as they 

 appear under high powers, will be understood by refe- 

 rence to Figs. 82, 87, to 94. Fig. 91 shows the capil- 

 laries of the villus in an almost healthy condition. 



It is quite certain that the morbid changes de- 

 lineated in these drawings must have been progressing 

 some time previous to the attack which destroyed 

 life. It may be confidently affirmed that such changes 

 as those described could not have taken place in a 

 few days. There is sometimes evidence of alterations 

 which must have been going on, even for weeks before 

 death. The kind of degeneration which has been 

 observed obviously requires some time for its comple- 

 tion, although I have not the data to enable me to fix 

 the precise period. The time requisite for the changes 

 which occur in blood-clots can be ascertained accu- 

 rately in some cases, and we have no reason for infer- 

 ring that the red blood-corpuscles could be much more 

 quickly disintegrated in the tissue of the villi, or 

 haematoidin crystals formed in a shorter time, than in 

 other situations. 



In many of the specimens of small intestine from 

 cholera cases I have found villi in every stage of wast- 

 ing the villus in which the change has only just 

 commenced, and villi of which all that remained were 

 little stunted elevations, projecting slightly from the 

 surface of the mucous membrane. Had the patient 



