Report on an inquiry into the nature, causes, and prevention of splenic fever, quarter-evil, and allied diseases : made at the Brown Institution / by W.S. Greenfield.

  • Greenfield, W. S. (William Smith), 1846-1919.
Date:
1880
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report on an inquiry into the nature, causes, and prevention of splenic fever, quarter-evil, and allied diseases : made at the Brown Institution / by W.S. Greenfield. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    that I should mention the following observation, made in their course. That flagellated protozoa may exist in the blood of healthy animals is now well known from the observations of Rattig, Wedl, Lewis, and others. But I am not aware of any similar recorded observation, and it may be found to have a pathological bearing at some future date. An apparently healthy white mouse was inoculated in the tail with some blood from the diseased quarter, and as it pre- sented no symptom beyond some swelling of the tail, it was supposed to have escaped all mischief. However, the swelling did not subside, but became gangrenous, and towards the middle of the second week it began to emaciate and the belly swelled ; finally, it died on the fourteenth day after the inoculation. Examination jive hours after Death.—On opening the abdomen there was found to be considerable opalescent exudation in the peritoneum ; the abdominal wall was also swollen and infiltrated. The tail, where inoculated, was considerably swollen. The other organs were fairly healthy. Before, however, I examined the organs, I took, as usual, some of the exudation in capillary tubes, and also some serum from the pleura and pericardium, and examined these microscopically. I naturally anticipated that I should have found the ordinary characters of semi-purulent serous effusion in the peritoneal fluid, but my astonishment was great when I found the fluid to be swarming with minute organisms swimming actively about in every direction, moving apparently by means of two long cilia or flagella. These organisms I may now describe more fully. They were ovoid, rounded, or more commonly, when in motion, pyriform or balloon-shaped ; very translucent, of delicate hyaline struc- ture, sharply defined. At the posterior extremity were two long fine lashes, moving with a wavy motion, much like that of cilia, and apparently serving to propel the organism forwards. In each could be seen a central clear space running lengthwise, wider at its central part, and apparently contracting and expand- ing. At the anterior extremity a more refractile part could be seen, apparently forming a sort of oral aperture. Their proto- plasm was highly contractile, and they changed shape, elon- gating and contracting very readily. In size they were, when at rest and round, about from 2 to 4'5 /i in diameter; when elongated, some reached 6 fi in length, and T5 to 2 y, in width. I was able to observe their movements for more than half an hour, but it was not until they were quiescent that the other cilia could be seen, and they were not well seen until stained. A more thorough study of their character was possible alter staining with methylaniline violet, and mounting in glycerine