Tuberculosis 



By means of a buret, of original design, drops of exactly 

 equal size were delivered and caught upon clean sterile 

 cover-glasses. The drops were subsequently spread into 

 an even film by a very fine platinum wire, while the cover- 

 glass was rotated upon a "turn-table." After spreading, 

 the cover-glasses were laid upon a slightly warmed level 

 brass plate to facilitate drying. After drying, they were 

 coated with a serum film by spraying, and the temperature 

 raised to 8o-9O C. to coagulate the serum and retain the 

 bacteria in place, after which they were carefully stained 

 with carbol-fuchsin and decolorized with a solution of 150 

 parts of water, 50 parts of alcohol, and 20-30 drops of pure 

 sulphuric acid. Prior to this the cover-glass was washed 

 in three alcohols and subsequently in water, and, if neces- 

 sary, in acid and alcohol again. 



A special arrangement of the microscope was devised 

 for the purpose of counting the bacteria, and the number of 

 bacilli in each drop was estimated with extreme care. The 

 number varied from 472 to 240,000. To estimate the 

 number of bacilli in a given quantity the number of drops 

 to a cubic centimeter is multiplied by the number of bacilli 

 in the drop, and then by the number of cubic centimeters 

 to be estimated. 



The method is an ingenious one, but a glance down 

 the columns of figures in the original article is sufficient to 

 show that the number of bacilli is devoid of any practical 

 interest, as is only to be expected when one considers the 

 pathology of the disease and remembers that accidents, 

 such as unusually violent cough one day, modified by the 

 use of sedatives the next, may cause wide variations in the 

 quality, if not in the quantity, of the sputum. 



Staining the Bacillus in Urine. The detection of tuber- 

 cle bacilli in the urine is sometimes easy, sometimes difficult. 

 The centrifuge should be used and the collected sediment 

 spread upon the glass. If there be no pus or albumin in 

 the urine, it is necessary to add a little white of egg to 

 secure good fixation of the urinary sediment to the glass. 

 The method of staining is the same as that for sputum. 

 The smegma bacillus (q. v.) is apt to be present in the urine, 

 and the precaution must be taken to wash the specimen with 

 absolute alcohol, so that the bacillus may be decolorized. 



Staining the Bacillus in Feces. It is difficult to find 

 tubercle bacilli in the feces because of the relatively small 

 number of bacilli and large bulk of feces. 



