Some effects of chronic irritation upon living tissues, being first steps in a rational study of cancer / by D'Arcy Power.

  • Power, D'Arcy, Sir, 1855-1941.
Date:
[1893]
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Some effects of chronic irritation upon living tissues, being first steps in a rational study of cancer / by D'Arcy Power. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    Beprlntcd for tUe Author from the British MKDlci.1, Journal, October Uth, 1893. . SOME EFFECTS OF CHRONIC IRRITATION UPON LIVING TISSUES, BEING FIRST STEPS IN A RATIONAL STUDY OF CANCER. c By D'ARCY power, M.A., M.B.Oxon., F.R.C.S.Eng., Surgeon to tlie Victoria Hospital for Cliildren, Chelsea ; Demonstrator of Practical Surgery at St. Bartholomew's Hospital; Lecturer on Histology at the Koyal Veterinary College. Wb may say of epithelium as Aristotle tells us that the men of old were accustomed to say of Africa 'Ael n Kaivhv ^4pei ri Ai/Sin; (Africa always produces something new ). The more closely epithelium is studied the more complex it appears to be. The discussions upon the organisms found in cancer which have formed so marked a feature in the pathological work of the last year have demonstrated to us our ignorance of the appearances met with in carcinomatous tissues examined under high powers of the microscope after the use of special methods of preparation. If we are ignorant of the appear- ances seen in carcinomatous cells, we are still more ignorant of the changes occurring in normal epithelium as a result of simple but chronic irritation. The great advance recently made in histology consists in the application of biological methods to morbid anatomy. In biology the tissues are of necessity preserved whilst they are physiologically living, for they are often so delicate that death is synonymous with dis- integration. The reagents employed, therefore, are those which simultaneously kill, fix, and harden. In morbid anatomy, on the other hand, it has too long been customary to take tissues from the deadhouse, and to subject them to re- agents by which they are slowly and imperfectly hardened, thereby allowing changes to take place in the more delicate structures, which renders impossible any minute microscopical examination. This alteration in technique is revolutionising our knowledge of the structure and life-histoiy of cells in the different parts of the body. It has presented us with a num- ber of facts which as yet we are hardly capable of using, so imperfect is our present knowledge. I propose in this paper to deal with a few of the facts obtained by a series of experimental researches into the cause of can- cer carried out at the Conjoint Laboratories in London. At the beginning of my investigation I found that it would be necessary to distinguish appearances due to simple irrita- tion from those produced by the specific action of cancer, for it seemed that many of the histological appearances in carci- noma are the consequence of simple irritation. My plan of investigation required that animals should be kept for long periods of time with some of their tissues in a mild but efficient state of irritation. I have, therefore, been able to study the effect of chronic irritation upon such extravascular tissues as epithelium and cartilage. The results are interest-