DEVELOPMENT OF LIVING MATTER. 63 



Whenever we meet with pus-corpuscles in a specimen of 

 urine or sputa, or, for instance, with colorless blood-corpuscles 

 in a drop of blood, which exhibit the features here illustrated in 

 a uniform manner, the conclusion as to the general constitution 

 of the individual can be made with certainty. The exclusive 

 presence of pus-corpuscles of the series P is a sure sign of a 

 so-called " tuberculous or phthisical " constitution. 



Should pus or blood corpuscles of the series E be mixed with 

 those of the series G and M, this means that an originally excel- 

 lent constitution has become lowered by disease the more so 

 the greater the number of the corpuscles like those of the series 

 P. Persons of a moderately good constitution, broken down by 

 chronic ailments, or by circumstances not favorable to their 

 nutrition, gradually exhibit, mixed with corpuscles of the series 

 Jf, those of the series P. The presence of the series P admits of 

 longevity rarely, and only under the most favorable external 

 conditions ; the more the formations c of the series P prevail, 

 the surer it is that the death of the individual is approaching. 



Many other conclusions as to the significance of the amount 

 of bioplasson present must be postponed, as they are not as yet 

 sufficiently proved. Obviously, these may in the future lead to 

 an important medical achievement in the prevention of disease. 



The features I have described as to the stages of develop- 

 ment of living matter must be combined with the conclusions 

 just stated, because the plastids of tissues I am sure of those 

 of bone and cartilage exhibit, in all stages of development, 

 differences due to differences in general constitution. 



