314 



Dr. E. Montgomery on the Formation of [Dec. 20^ 



ject desired by all, and at the first moment when it was possible to exe- 

 cute it. 



A full detailed account of the * Comparisons of the Standards of 

 Length/ with numerous plates, has just been published, and may be ob- 

 tained from the agents for the sale of the pubHcations of the Ordnance 

 Survey. 



December 20, 1866. 



Dr. WILLIAM ALLEN MILLER, Treasurer and Vice-President, 



in the Chair. 



The following communications were read : — 



I. " On the Formation of ' Cells ^ in Animal Bodies.'-' By E. 

 Montgomery, M.D. Communicated by J. Simon, Esq. 

 Ueceived November 8, 1866. 



(Abstract.) 

 I. — Observations. 



So called organic " cells," chiefly those of various cancerous tumours, 

 were seen, on the addition of water, to expand to several times their ori- 

 ginal size, and at last to vanish altogether into the surrounding medium. 



The nucleus " did not always participate in this change, but at times 

 remained unaltered, whilst the outer constituents of the *'cell" were un- 

 dergoing this process of expansion. 



This curious phenomenon of extreme dilatation is intelligible only on the 

 supposition that the spherical bodies in question are in reality globules of a 

 uniformly viscid material, which by imbibition swells out till at last its 

 viscosity is overcome by the increasing liquefaction. 



In embryonic tissues and in various tumours, single nuclei" were seen, 

 each surrounded by a shred of granular matter. On the addition of water 

 there would bulge from one of the margins of the granular mass a seg- 

 ment of a clear globule, which continued growing until it had become a 

 full sphere, which ultimately detached itself, and was carried away by the 

 currents. At other times no such separate globule v/ould be emitted, but 

 the entire granular shred would itself gradually assume the spherical shape, 

 ultimately encompassing the nucleus," and constituting with the same 

 the most perfect typical cell." 



Not only single " nuclei " were found, each surrounded by a shred, 

 but also clusters of two, four, and more were seen similarly enclosed 

 by a proportionately large granular mass. Under these circumstances it 

 sometimes occurred that, on the addition of water, the whole granular 



