114 Transactions.— Miscellaneous. 
matter, and subsequently of vaccine lymph. These experiments were only 
partially successful for reasons which are now obvious ; but they led on to 
other experiments. 
Mainly these were on the growth and development of the red corpuscles 
in birds. The results of these experiments were published in the Trans- 
actions of the New Zealand Institute for 1874. It was shown that by the 
use of a suitable nutrient fluid—egg-albumen mixed with water—the nucle- 
ated red corpuscles could be made to grow and throw off their nuclei, which 
became developed into round coloured non-nucleated corpuscles, exactly 
resembling those of mammalia. The same experiments, with a like result, 
were made with the blood of fishes, particularly with sharks and rays, and 
subsequently with the blood of reptilia. 
During the investigations upon the blood of reptilia, (frogs being selected 
for convenience), I naturally took the opportunity of observing the pheno- 
mena of inflammation, as seen in the web of the frog’s foot and the tail of 
tadpoles. Having for some time entertained grave doubts, on @ priori 
grounds, as to the possibility of Cohnheim’s so-called wandering corpuscles 
really passing through the walls of the capillaries, I was induced to make 
some experiments with a view of testing the matter. 
For this purpose I took advantage of a few months’ residence in New 
South Wales, not only carefully and repeatedly to examine with the micro- 
scope, the phenomena of inflammation in the tails of tadpoles, but also to 
show, beyond the possibility of doubt, that leucocytes do not, in these 
animals, wander from the blood vessels, but are formed from pre-existing 
germs in the solid tissues, either from connective tissue corpuscles or from 
some other source. A very simple experiment showed this. A small 
portion of the transparent extremity of a tadpole’s tail was cut off, and im- 
mersed in a nutrient fluid, (half egg-albumen and half water was found 
the most useful), and kept at the ordinary temperature of the air, which at 
that place and season varied from 70° to 90° F., in the house. Control 
experiments were made by immersing other portions of tails in water, in 
water impregnated with carbolic acid, and in various other media. The tails 
immersed in pure water were in a few hours in a state of decomposi- 
tion, sulphuretted hydrogen was evolved, bacteria and multitudes of animal- 
cules (monads) were formed in the water, the portion of tail was shrivelled, 
and dead to all intents and purposes. With carbolic acid the tails under- 
went no change. 
The following description, taken from the notes of one experiment, will 
show the changes that ensue in a few hours: 
“March 18th, 1878, 2.30 p.m.—Snipped off four tadpoles’ tails, placed 
them in a mixture of egg-albumen and water. Tails sank in mixture. 
