Medical Officers of the Army of India.
Gentian violet, Methyl blue, Spiller's purple, Bismarck brown, Fuchsin, Eosin,
and Gibbes' double-staining fluid.
The specimens thus prepared were subjected to careful and methodical
examination, but in none of them could Schizomycete organisms of any kind be
det ect ed. In none of t hem, save t hose whi ch had been st ai ned wi t h Gent i an
violet, did any structural features manifest themselves beyond those which have
been just described above. In those, however, which had been first thoroughly
stained with Gentian violet and then washed out in spirit until almost all colour
had disappeared from them, large numbers of peculiar violet or blue bodies
appeared conspicuously among the surrounding, almost colourless masses of
lymphoid elements (Pl. I., Figs. 1, 2 ; Pl. II., Fig, 8). Repeated and careful
examination of a large series of sections prepared in a similar fashion revealed
the constant presence of such bodies and furnished the data for the following
details regarding their structural features and distribution.
In preparations stained with any of the other dyes mentioned above, with
the exception of Fuchsin, they were absolutely indistinguishable even after a
complete familiarity with their appearance and distribution had been attained.
In some Fuchsin preparations faint indications of their presence could be recog
-nised, but it was only by means of Gentian violet that they were rendered con
- s p i c u o u s a n d t h e i r c h a r a c t e r s s h a r p l y d e f i n e d . D o u b l e s t a i n i n g w i t h G e n t i a n
violet and Fuchsin in some cases gave very good results as will be further allud
- e d t o p r e s e n t l y .
They varied very considerably in size. The average diameters of a series of
measured specimens were 12.6µ, x 8.8µ, the largest measuring 12.8µ x 25.6µ,
the smallest 6.4µ x 6.4µ. Such minute specimens as the latter were, how
- e v e r , r a r e , a n d , a s a r u l e , t h e y w e r e c o n s i d e r a b l y l a r g e r t h a n t h e l y m p h o i d
elements among which they were situated. Their form also varied greatly,—in
some cases they were circular, in others elliptical, in others irregularly lobate
(Pl. I. Figs. 2 , 3, Pl. II. Figs. 3, 5, 6). Their contour was in the majority of ins
- t a n c e s s m o o t h , b u t i n s o m e o f a m o r e o r l e s s t u b e r c u l a t e c h a r a c t e r . I n s o m e
specimens a very delicate cell wall was clearly visible; in others it was wholly
unrecognisable, or only to be detected on careful and special scrutiny.
The distinctness with which they appear in sections treated with Gentian
violet is due to the elective staining of the nucleoid bodies which they contain
by the dye. The number of such bodies present in different cells varies ex
- t r e m e l y , — i n s o m e c a s e s o n l y a s i n g l e g r e a t n u c l e o i d m a s s i s p r e s e n t , s e e m i n g l y
occupying almost the entire cell body, in others a few of very various sizes
occur, and in still others a large number of minute and fairly equal-sized ones are
thickly scattered throughout the entire cell (Plate I., Fig. 3; Plate II., Figs. 3—7).
The cytoplasm in the Gentian violet specimens remains almost uncoloured; in
those in which Fuchsin has likewise been employed, it frequently shows a more or
less pronounced red hue. The tuberculate appearance presented by some of the
4A