PUS. 145 



The entire of this theory is here conceived to be erroneous, 

 and this for the following reasons : 



1. The existence of such filaments in the white corpuscles 

 has not been proved. 



2. The bursting of these corpuscles referred to by Mr. 

 Addison, is an occurrence which is rarely, if ever, seen to 

 take place while they remain embedded in the liquor san- 

 guinis. 



3. The actual consolidation of the fluid fibrin may be wit- 

 nessed to occur on the field by the microscope in a drop of 

 blood, and wholly independent of any rupture of the white 

 corpuscles, which remain without appreciable alteration. 



There is some consolation, however, in knowing that this 

 inquiry is not of so much importance as it would appear ; for 

 even were we able to make the distinction which has been 

 the subject of so many anxious thoughts, and decide that pus 

 did exist in the sputa, yet this fact, viewed separately, would 

 not prove that disease of the lungs did really exist, since it 

 is ascertained that pus may be formed without any structural 

 lesion ; and, further, if lesion were really present, it would 

 not necessarily follow that this had its seat in the cells of the 

 lungs, for it might be situated either in the bronchi or larynx. 

 Thus even in this supposed case the diagnosis would be sub- 

 ject to considerable uncertainty. 



Various opinions have been expressed by different ob- 

 servers in favour of the possibility of distinguishing pus from 

 mucus. To some of these we will now refer. 



There is always met with in pus, in greater or less quan- 

 tity, globules of oil : the presence of these was conceived by 

 Gueterboch to afford a sign, absolutely distinctive, between 

 pus and mucus ; that they are not so, however, is proved by 

 the fact that similar globules are occasionally encountered in 

 normal mucus. 



Weber conceived the idea that the fluids might be dis- 

 tinguished by the size of the'globules contjned in them, the 

 pus globule being twice as large as that of mucus : this cha- 

 racter is likewise too uncertain, and too variable for the 

 purposes of discrimination. 



