1 6 Objects Seen in Cholera Evacuations. [part l 



bodies are exceedingly common in choleraic discharges, and I believe are very different 

 in their nature ; but whether any of them are " spores " will, I think, be satisfactorily 

 explained in the sequel. The objects I have met with in cholera discharges more or 

 less resembling these bodies may be arranged into four classes : — 



(1) — Globules of a fatty nature; 



(2) — Altered blood-cells ; 



(3) — Corpuscles embedded in the tenacious substance composing the '^ flakes ; " and, 



(4) — Globular conditions of certain infusoria. 



1. Persons accustomed to microscopic work must have found that to distinguish 

 fat or oil globules from other bodies very different in their nature, is not always so 

 easy a matter as is commonly stated in text-books on the subject. It has frequently 

 occurred during this investigation that, in spite of the addition of heat, absolute 

 alcohol, rectified ether, potash, iodine, and other re-agents, not overlooking the prolonged 

 application of carmine, I have failed in distinguishing with certainty fat globules from 

 pellets of slimy substances endowed with life, when both were known to be present. 

 Indeed, I have frequently mixed fat with gum- water and other substances for the 

 purpose of testing the value of the re-agents which had been applied to bodies under 

 examination, and have found that, in a great number of instances, the results are 

 fallacious ; either the globules remain unaltered, or both kinds are destroyed, or 

 they are acted upon indiscriminately. A fair sample of this difficulty is carefully 

 delineated at Plate XI, Fig. xxx, representing objects very like delicate " cysts " 

 and " spores," which being watched for eight hours remained unaltered, resisting 

 pressure, etc., but broke down in twenty-four hours into unmistakable globules of oil. 



Having experienced very great difficulty in this matter, I propose giving one more 

 example of a condition which is a particularly prominent feature in the early stools of a 

 cholera patient ; indeed, for a long time I was unable to persuade myself that it was 

 not a condition of some low form of life, especially when the globules were highly 

 coloured, or when the homogeneous contents of the pellicle shifted its position. 



A sailor was admitted into hospital with all the symptoms of cholera, and, at the 

 time this evacuation was obtained, suffered from severe cramps. The stool was examined 

 three minutes after being voided, was found to be alkaline and of a muddy colour. 

 The sediment consisted almost entirely of greenish-yellow corpuscles, varying considerably 

 in size, the larger ones being flattened out under the covering glass (Fig. xxxi) ; many 

 of these having the contents contracted, the contour of a delicate, filmy capsule being 

 evident at the spot where shrinkin se3m3i to have taken place (Fig. xxxii). They 

 were generally spherical (1), but many were oval (2), and a few were seen presenting 

 several hyaline projections whilst rolling in the fluid on the slide (3). In some cases 

 they retained their form and appearance for a long time, but the greater number 

 lasted only for a few hours. They were frequently observed to vanish suddenly like 

 a distended blood-cell, leaving only a ring behind (Fig. xxxiii, 1), previous to which, 



