Report of the Committee of Management and Medical Director : 1947 / Papworth Village Settlement.

  • Papworth Village Settlement (Cambridge, England)
Date:
1947
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report of the Committee of Management and Medical Director : 1947 / Papworth Village Settlement. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    The Carpentry Department, of the Clinical Pathologist’s time. As a result such research as it has been possible to carry out has of necessity been related very closely to the routine work of the department, i.e., has been “applied” rather than “funda¬ mental.” I believe that this trend is advan¬ tageous and it certainly helps to satisfy a not- inconsiderable immediate demand for in¬ formation on current methods and techniques. In any case we are still fortunate enough to have a small residue of time which can be devoted to more academic or “pure” research problems. I. SPUTUM The primary motif has been an intensive experimental study of various aspects of routine sputum examination. Despite the almost historic antiquity of this procedure, there isasurprising lackof definite and specific information on many important aspects both of technique and of result interpretation. In order to obtain “definite answers” to many points, this programme ofwork was developed. Apart from a paper titled “Towards Fluorescence Microscopy” (Tubercle May 1947) and a letter to the Lancet in the previous year, this work is as yet unpublished, although much of it has been presented at the T.E.I. Refresher Course on the Pathology and Bacteriology of Tuberculosis held at Oxford in September of this year. The MS. of the first two (or three) communications which will cover this work is at present in draft. Its general scope is sufficiently indicated by the following tentative list of sub-headings. The Bacteriological Significance of the “Direct Smear Z.N. Examination Field Counts : Visual Classification of Posi¬ tives : Effects of Heterogeneity. The Distri¬ bution of Bacilli in Direct Smears. The “grouping” of bacilli : The “crudity” of direct microscopy : Discrepancy between observers. The limit of direct microscopy : [20]