LEUCOCYTOSIS CONFOUNDED WITH PYAEMIA. 223 



quantities as to form accumulations (Fig. 58) which may 

 be seen, in the dead body, with the naked eye, looking 

 like minute spots of pus ; or as to constitute large, con- 

 tinuous or granular layers on the inferior surface of the 

 buffy coat of blood taken from a vein (Fig. 60). Appa- 

 rently the proof is as plausible as possible. The observer 

 starts with the supposition that pus has found its way into 

 the blood ; he examines the blood and really discovers 

 elements, having all the appearance of pus-corpuscles, and 

 in very great numbers. Even if it be admitted that 

 colourless blood-cells may look like pus-corpuscles, still 

 the conclusion which has been repeatedly arrived at in 

 cases of pyaemia, is very seductive, namely, that on ac- 

 count of the great multitude, they cannot possibly be 

 colourless blood-, but must be pus-corpuscles. This was 

 the conclusion arrived at years ago by Bouchut on the 

 occasion of an epidemic of puerperal fever which he then 

 took to be pyaemia, but has very recently, founding his 

 opinion upon the same observations, declared to have 

 been acute leukaemia. It is moreover the same conclu- 

 sion which Bennett came to in the much-discussed matter 

 of priority between us, when he observed a case of in- 

 dubitable leukaemia some months before I saw my first 

 case, and inferred from the presence of colourless corpus- 

 cles in larger numbers than in any instance upon record, 

 that it was a case of " suppuration of the blood." This 

 conclusion of his indeed was not original, but was based 

 upon the haemitis of Piorry of which I lately spoke (p. 

 187), this physician having conceived the blood itself to 

 become inflamed and engender pus, a state which was 

 afterwards denominated spontaneous pyaemia by the 

 Vienna school. 



Now all these errors proceeded from the circumstance 

 that such an enormously great number of colourless cor- 

 puscles were found in the blood. Now-a-days their 



