W. L. Braddon 
271 
directed to the discovery of piroplasms, the bacteria of haemorrhagic 
septicaemia and other known pathogenic elements, had resulted in 
purely negative findings, which led to the presumption that the affection 
was rinderpest. The mortality among the observed cases, as well as the 
attack-rate among contacts, was however unusually low, a suspicious 
happening in regard to buffaloes not immunised. 
Mr Symonds assisted me to procure blood-specimens which I prepared 
after my usual method, expecting to find the wonted specific bodies 
which have been described above. 
None of these bodies was found. But, instead, every specimen taken 
showed the corpuscles to be copiously infested with a new and totally 
different form of inclusion, illustrated in PI. XIX, fig./ 
This new element exhibited short thick ovoid, or round, angular or 
sometimes almost square shapes, of which one or many might be found 
in nearly every corpuscle. Their colour as stained was deep green, or 
blue to black. Their size varied from yu. to 3 /x. In structure they seem 
to consist of a vesicle which is filled and possibly (through absorption from 
an anisotonic medium) distended with stain. One peculiarity is a 
tendency, like that of the specific bodies of true rinderpest, to protrude 
from the corpuscle. Many of the bodies are seen thus almost entirely 
extruded, but none apparently quite free. 
Unlike the other bodies they retain their first blue stain well when 
washed in alcohol : but in these, as in the others, the writer has so far 
been unable to show any evidence of chromatin, or indeed any special or 
selective staining affinity. 
Remarks as to technique. 
The writer’s specimens were all stained with a mixture of \ / methyl¬ 
ene blue and 1 potassium citrate; but it seems reasonable to suppose 
that the soda salt would serve equally well. With normal saline 
solution however (and the blue) repeated attempts failed to yield any 
staining effects. 
When the fluid specimens are sufficiently stained they may be spread 
on a slide and fixed by formalin or osmic vapour, or saturated corrosive 
sublimate solution—the latter giving the best results. 
In this state the margins of the bodies are seen very clearly outlined. 
If now any of the common plasmatic stains (Fuchsin, Eosin, Methyl 
violet, Thionin, Safranin) be applied, the effect is speedily to dissolve 
out the original blue, leaving the included body wholly undemarcated, 
and therefore invisible. Safranin, and Thionin in watery solution, applied 
