The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-09-26
THE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.
1t Shows the WisgIings of Your
Blood COrpuscles.
From the New York Tribune.

particular scientific operation the public
is not familiar enough with the inpova-
ton, so rapid are the steps, small though
they be. by which most, branches of
knowledge and arts are being advanced.
1t would not be surprising, therefore. if
some of the best-informed readers of the
Tribune, if told that DIR. Robert l.. Wat
kins, of this city, had just developed some
thing new in micro-photography, should
ask what icro-photography is, and what
the medical profession have to do with it.
A brief reply to such interrogation would
enable one the better to understand the
latest phase of the subject. ..
Physicians have for years been relying
upon a microscopic examination of the
blood for valuable indications of pa
TENTS condition. A very small fraction of
a drop, pressed fiat between two bits of
glass, is placed under the microscope. and
reveals many secrets to the eye. The eX
pert looks for foreign matter, like evil
dence of tuberculosis. for crystals, for ba-
cilh and other things that ought not to
be found in the veins of a healthy per-
son. He then examines the tiny red and
white discs, called corpuscles, which con-
stitute a part of the blood. These are
so small that $500 of them placed edge
to edge in a row, would make line only
an inch longs. that is, If they were the
red ones The white corpusces, which
are far less numerous, are a tribe larger
But with a magnifying power Of roo, 1000
or 1900 diameters it is possible to detect
many strange and instructive things.
One can discover for instance, a certain
indentation of the edge, which betrays
fatigue. Or there may be adherent gran
ules, which signify something else. Per-
hapS the microscopic viii perceive dis
ease germs dixie those of malaria) snugly
ensconced inside of the corpuscle. II the
blood cell exhibits a fiabby texture, still
another Interpretation is placed on the
fact. One of the most important features
of a specimen is the arrangement of the
corpuscles. In a healthy person these
should show a proper spirit Of independ-
ence, no matter how close the actual coy
tact; but in the blood of a tuberculous
patient they form little clusters. This
tendency to stick together in separate
groups means a great deal to a practised
student.
1t is said that such a scrutiny of the
blood as this will afford indications of at
least fifty different maladies, the list in
Guiding three or four varieties of malaria,
a larger number of types of rheumatism
and several kinds of consumption. Indeed,
the last-named disease can now be detec1-
ed by a microscopic examination of the
blood long before the patient begins to
cough.
But physician cannot put into his note
book all that he secs in his microscope. A
photograph of a specimen, therefore, prop
erly numbered and stored away, is a val
liable record, ineSonnection with a case,
long after the Immediate need for the
test has passed. Specialists in this de-
partment of investigation, therefore, haze
inc aas nit I1 rtafn no
in such way that they can secure per-
manent pictures of this sort The image
which would otherwise make only a tran
silent impression on the human retina is
projected into the camera. AS IL is desir-
able to have the slide on which the blood
lies remain in a horizontal position, the
picture can best be seen from above.
Hence the camera is arranged to point
downward, although in certain other
classes of work it's axis Is horizontal. A
picture obtained in this way is called a
micro-photograph.
Thus far no mention has been made of
the movements of the corpuscle while I'M
der examination. For several hours after
being taken from the patients veins the
blood cells will behave in curious man
ner. The red ones shift their position
slowly and very slightly. But the white
corpuscles, or leucocytes, also show
changes of form, as if they were endowed
with life. They twist about into Irregular
shapes, very unlike the perfect disc of
their dark complexioned neighbors; and
delicate fibres or feelers are extended, as
If in search of prey. The resemblance
between these movements and those of an
amOeba, a microscopic organism often
found in fresh water, is striking. But aft
err an interval of time, rarely exceeding
day, the leucocyte ceases to wiggle, and
is then considered to be dead.
This activity Of the white cOrpIlSc1ae of
the blood is more than curious. 1t is inn
portant. A great deal more may be
learned on the subject perhaps, than is
known now. But already these move
ments signify something to limited num-
Der of experts. An abnormal liveliness
may be due merely to excessive warmth
but it may also be due to tuberculous con-
ditions. 1t might happen, for instance,
that a patient exhibited symptoms which
suggested both typhoid fever and con-
sumption. The attending physician would
be puzzled to say which the person was
threatened with. An appeal TO an expert
in microscopic analysis, at this juncture,
might settle the question instantly, and
save valuable time in the adoption of a
course of treatment.
Here, however, the medical profession is
on the edge of a large and imperfectly
explored field. Both as demonstrations of
what has been observed in the past and
LOT purposes VI luLuItf MY est SdllOn IL ID
desirable to secure records of the amoe-
bold movements Of the white corpuscle,
and of other changes occurring in the
blood Immediately after a sample is TAX
en- DIR. Watkins. to whom reference has
been made in this article, and who was
entrusted with the microscopic examina-
lions at the Post Graduate hospital for
a considerable period of time some years
ago, is an adept in mlcro-photograph as
well as an enthusiastic advocate of this
system of diagnosis. For many months
he has been seeking a way to represent
to other people, on screen, living micro
scopic objects. At last he experimental
with the vitascope and with gratifying
success. In a recent number Of the Med
ical News New York;, he told the pro-
fession something about it. we
Hitherto 1t has been possible to make a
few pictures, at intervals of from two to
fifteen minutes, of the same specimen, and
to exhibit prints or lantern slides OF
these separately But by using the film
and special apparatus of a kaleidoscope
he is able to obtain pictures at the rate
of $500 or 5000 per minute (forty to eighty
a second, and to throw them on a screen
with eQuaI or greater velocity