which afterwards developed intra-cellular granules. On the disputed question whether these granular marrow cells (nyelocytes) originate from large lymphocytes (Pappenheim) or from the so-called indifferent "lymphoidal cells" (L. Michaelis- Wolff), Dominici does not express an opinion. He proceeds to discuss the changes in the marrow under pathological conditions, especially in the acute infections and the anæmias. In the former class of cases, the well-established polymorphonuclear leucocytosis which characterises most acute infective conditions is discussed along with the accompanying changes in the marrow. The author infers that the marrow is the seat in such cases of a very marked increase in functional activity, due allowance being made for the constantly occurring degenerative changes which are at the same time present. The number of leucocytes with basophile protoplasm is increased-i.e., the class of cells which give rise to myelocytes. The increased number of karyokinetic figures which are to be found in the marrow is a striking evidence of its tissue-activity. Dominici describes also a 66 panying such changes. myeloid transformation" of the spleen as accom [It is probable that this expression refers to the increase in the class of large hyaline cells to be observed in the peripheral parts of the Malpighian bodies of the organ during acute infective conditions. The term "myeloid transformation" implies that the class of granular cells characteristic of the marrow (myelocytes) may, under certain conditions, be actively generated in the spleen or elsewhere than the marrow-a view which cannot be regarded as sufficiently well founded on facts. -A. R. F.] The Significance of Anaerobic Bacteria in Diseases of the Intestinal Tract (aus dem Hygiene-Institut der Universität, Zurich). By Dr. A. Rodella.-The author, during researches made on the stools of infants suffering from chronic catarrh of the bowels, discovered that spores of anaerobic bacteria were practically a constant feature of the evacua tions. Such spores were seen with comparative ease in microscopical film preparations of the stools stained by the Ziehl-Neelsen method (which had been practised as a matter of routine, to discover, if possible, the relation of such cases to abdominal tubercle). Plate cultures made under anaerobic conditions were made from the stools (after treatment of a small quantity of the material with boiling water in the usual manner), and the regular presence of anaerobic bacteria demonstrated. The author thinks that the regular occurrence of such organisms in cases of intestinal catarrh may yet prove to be significant as regards etiology. Pneumococcus Peritonitis in Young Subjects. M. Stooss (Jahrb. f. Kinderheilkunde, Bd. Ivi, 1902, p. 573).-Comparatively few cases of this particular mode of infection appear to have found their way into German literature. French literature, however, includes quite a series of cases of the kind within recent times. The foregoing communication contains a record of four cases, in three of which a localised purulent peritonitis resulted, and in the fourth a diffuse form. In the latter case the symptoms developed quickly, and the case rapidly progressed towards the fatal termination. In the cases reported, the pneumococcus gained entrance to the peritoneum from the intestine, the pleura, or from the female generative organs, as well as by the blood stream. The author considers it probable that, when the virulence of the organism is low, and the infection local, a limited peritonitis with thick fibrino-purulent exudation is the result. The infection of the peritoneum with other organisms in addition to the pneumococcus was found to be followed by a much more acute inflammation. Books, Pamphlets, &c., Received. The Geography of Disease, by Frank G. Clemow, M.D., D.P.H. Cambridge University Press. 1903. (15s.) Tuberculosis, by Norman Bridge, A.M., M.D. Illustrated. London: W. B. Saunders & Co. 1903. (6s. net.) Handbook of Physiology, by W. D. Halliburton, M.D., F.R.S. Fifth Edition (being the Eighteenth Edition of Kirk's Physiology). With upwards of 700 Illustrations, including some Coloured. Plates. London: John Murray. 1903. (14s.) Practical Pharmacy and Prescribing for Students of Medicine, by James Calvert, M.D. Second Edition. London: H. K. Lewis. 1903. (4s. 6d.) A Text-book of Legal Medicine and Toxicology, Edited by Frederick Peterson, M.D., and Walter S. Haines, M.D. In two volumes, Vol. I. Illustrated. London: W. B. Saunders & Co. 1903. (21s. net.) Nothnagel's Encyclopedia of Practical Medicine (Saunders' English Edition). Diseases of the Stomach, by Franz Riegel; edited, with additions, by Charles G. Stockton, M.D. Authorised Translation. London: W. B. Saunders & Co. 1903. (21s. net.) Nothnagel's Encyclopedia of Practical Medicine (Saunders' English Edition). Diseases of the Liver, Pancreas, and Suprarenal Capsules, by Leopold Oser, M.D., Edmund Neusser, M.D., Heinrich Quincke, M.D., G. Hoppe-Seyler, M.D.; edited, with. additions, by Reginald H. Fitz, M.D., and Frederick A. Packard, M.D. Authorised Translation. London: W. B. Saunders & Co. 1903. (21s. net.) County Council of Lanark: Report on the Administration of the Rivers Pollution Prevention Acts, by the County Medical Officer. Glasgow Robert Anderson. 1903. Transactions of the American Dermatological Association at its Twenty-sixth Annual Meeting, held in Boston, Mass., 18th, 19th, and 20th September, 1902. Chicago: P. F. Pettibone & Co. 1903. An Atlas of Illustrations of Clinical Medicine, Surgery, and Pathology (chiefly from original sources). Fasciculus XVI, or V of new series. Coxa Vara. Plates A to I. With reprint of Essay by C. R. B. Keetley, Esq., F.R.S. Miscellaneous Plates I to L. London: The New Sydenham Society. 1903. (Price to nonmembers, 10s. 6d.) Practical Handbook of the Diseases of the Eye, by D. Chalmers Watson, M.B., F.R.C.P.E. With 9 Coloured Plates and Edinburgh William Green & 31 Illustrations in the text. Manual of Medicine, by Thomas Kirkpatrick Monro, M.A., M.D. London Baillière, Tindall & Cox. 1903. (15s. net.) Elementary Ophthalmic Optics, by Freeland Fergus, M.D., F.R.S E. London Blackie & Son, Limited. 1903. Fourteenth Annual Report of the Derby Borough Asylum, for the Year ending 31st December, 1902. Derby: J. W. Simpson. 1903. On Syphonage and Hydraulic Pressure in the Large Intestine, by Ralph Winnington Leftwich, M.D. London: J. & A. Churchill. 1903. (3s. net.) An Atlas of Illustrations of Clinical Medicine, Surgery, and Pathology (chiefly from original sources). Fasciculus XV (double number), or III and IV of new series. Xanthelasma and Xanthoma. Compiled by Jonathan Hutchinson, F.R.C.S., F.R.S., LL.D. London: The New Sydenham Society. 1902. (Price to nonmembers, 21s.) Medical Microscopy, designed for Students in Laboratory Work and for Practitioners, by T. E. Oertel, M.D. With 131 Illustrations, some of which are Coloured. London: Rebman, Limited. 1903. (9s. net.) Saint Thomas's Hospital Reports, New Series, edited by Dr. H. P. Hawkins and Mr. W. H. Battle. London: J. & A. Churchill. 1903. Diseases of the Heart and Arterial System, for the use of Students. and Practitioners, by Robert H. Babcock, A.M., M.D. With 3 Coloured Plates and 139 Illustrations. London: D. Appleton & Co. 1903. (25s. net.) Introduction to the Study of Malarial Diseases, by Dr. Reinhold Ruge. Translated by P. Edgar, M.B., C.M. Edin., and M. Eden Paul, M.D. London: Rebman, Limited. 1903. (10s. 6d. net.) A Text-book of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, or the Action of Drugs in Health and Disease, by Arthur R. Cushny, M.A., M.D. Aber. Third Edition, Revised and Enlarged. Illustrated with 52 Engravings. London Rebman, Limited. 1903. (17s. 6d. net.) Cellular Toxins, or the Chemical Factors in the Causation of Disease, by Victor C. Vaughan, M.D., LL.D., and Frederick G. Novy, M.D., Sc. D. Fourth Edition, Revised and Enlarged. London: Rebman, Limited. 1903. (14s. net.) A System of Physiologic Therapeutics, Edited by Solomon Solis Cohen, A.M., M.D. Vol. X Pneumotherapy, including Aërotherapy, and Inhalation Methods and Therapy, by Dr. Paul Louis Tissier. Illustrated. London: Rebman, Limited. (12s. 6d. net.) 1903. Eye Symptoms as Aids in Diagnosis, by Edward Magennis, M.D.,. D.P.H. Bristol: John Wright & Co. 1903. (2s. net.) An English Handbook to the Paris Medical School, by A. A. Warden, M.D. London: J. & A. Churchill. 1903. (2s. net.) THE GLASGOW MEDICAL JOURNAL. No. II. AUGUST, 1903. ORIGINAL ARTICLES. THE EARLY HISTORY OF APPENDICITIS IN GREAT BRITAIN.1 BY HOWARD A. KELLY, A. B., M.D., Professor of Gynæcological Surgery in the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland; Honorary President of the Glasgow Obstetrical and Gynecological Society. MR. PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF THE GLASGOW OBSTETRICAL AND GYNECOLOGICAL SOCIETY,-In selecting the subject for the address which it is my privilege to deliver this evening, I have been guided by a circumstance recently brought to my notice in the course of some investigations made while preparing a work upon the vermiform appendix. I discovered, to my surprise, that the literature of this subject had been most imperfectly investigated, and that the part borne by Great Britain in this new episode in the evolution of medicine and surgery was far from being appreciated, and had never yet been duly presented to the profession. I found that many valuable observations and essays in British medical periodicals had never, within recent years, been brought to light, whilst others, comparatively unimportant papers, were regularly accorded a credit far beyond their due. My choice of a 1 Address delivered at a meeting of the Glasgow Obstetrical and Gynæcological Society held on 17th June, 1903. No. 2. |