EXAMINATION OF MORBID GROWTHS, 677 



tiuguished from all other tissue, normal or pathological, by cer- 

 tain clear and well-defined elements. If we "compare the 

 physical characters of cancer with those of the simple tissues, 

 .such as the muscular, areolar, dartoric, osseous, &;c., or with 

 those of the compound, as the glandular, the synovial, the mu- 

 cous, &c., the difference will be very apparent. Its greater or 

 less firmness, its homogeneous fibrous aspect, with its lactescent 

 infiltrated juice, are very characteristic. The presence of this 

 peculiar fluid is, of itself, a point of differential diagnosis of great 

 value; the microscope always detecting in it, when found, the 

 presence of cancei'-cells, &c. I^o matter what organ is the seat 

 of the disease, this fluid can generally be scraped from the cut 

 surface, or squeezed out by gentle pressure. It is particularly 

 abundant in encephaloid, and frequently 

 oozes out in drops, having a white cloudy Fig. 382. 



appearance, of the consistence of cream, 

 and very much of its color, being slightly 

 tinged with yellow. It may sometimes, 

 on superficial inspection, be confounded 

 with light-colored pus, which has, how- 

 ever, with the yellow, a slightly greenish 

 tinge. If, from the conditions of its for- 

 mation, there can be any doubt, an appeal 

 to the microscope will at once settle it by 

 giving us the characteristic pus-globule" 



(Figs. 382, 383). Pus-Corpuscles. 



" The element of cancer consists of three 

 parts, cell, nucleus, and nucleolus, all of which are peculiar to it. 



" In all the varieties of cancerous tissue, nuclei are to be found 

 either enveloped by a cell, or floating free, generally more or less 

 of both ; in some specimens there exist a large number of free 

 nuclei with only an occasional cell. The form and appearance 

 of these nuclei are the most constant and unvarying of all cancer 

 elements. They are (Fig. 384, a) ovoid, or more or less round ; the 

 latter are found more particularly when the eye or the lymphatic 

 glands are the organs diseased. Sometimes (as in h) we flnd 

 little pieces of the wall of the nuclei apparently nicked out, but 

 evidently it is purely accidental, and the proper shape can easily 

 be recognized. They have, ordinarily, in width, a diameter ot 

 from 1-lOOth of a millimetre, or (a millimetre iDeing equal to 

 •039th of an inch) of •0039th of an inch to l-66th of a millimetre ; 

 in one instance we met with one as wide as l-38th of a milli- 

 metre ; in length they measure from l-133d to 1-lOOth of a milli- 

 metre. Their contour is dark and well defined, with the interior 

 containing very minute dark granulations; indeed, when the 

 specimen is perfectly fresh, they have a homogeneous aspect, the 

 granulations being so small as to give the appearance of a mere 

 shading (Fig. 384, c) ; if the specimen is kept a day or two we find 



