kinds of precipitates, fragments of fibrin, altered red or white blood corpuscles or even masses of bacteria. The figures he publishes appear to me to furnish a disproof rather than a proof of the truth of his assertions, but are too rough to be of any real value. Other proof there is none. B. H. HANKIN.

Agra, 16th April.

(lavrtspomlcuce. A CONTRIBUTION TO THE ETIOLOGY OP CHOLERA.

To the Editor of the Indian Medical Gazette.

Sir,?A letter from Dr. Hehir appears in your current issue in which he states that no mention is made of his blood observations in a paper published by yourself in collaboration with M. Haffkine on Cholera. A similar omission exists in the case of

a

paper of mine

dealing with the same subject, an omission that I should like with your permission to repair. Koch, Rous, Klein and many other observers working under the best conditions, and bringing to bear on the subject the best histological and pathological experience have examined

the blood of cholera patients and have found no trace of any parasite, still less of the series of extraordinary monsters figured by l)r. Hehir. Dr. Hehir makes no pretence that his parasite is difficult to observe, and I am of opinion that if it was really there it would have been found by some of the observers quoted, who probably worked under more favourable conditions than did Dr. Hehir, and who are in the last degree likely to overlook all of the many conspicuous developmental stages of the parasite described by Dr. Hehir. Dr. Hehir appears to be of

opinion

that

a

drop

of blood

on

glass slide, if sealed up with vaseline or paraffin, undergoes no spontaneous changes in the Indian climate. I expect that if he makes a preparation of normal blood, and examines it a

with as much faith and imagination as he appears to have devoted to his observations of the blood of cholera patients, he will again meet with his monstrosities. Indeed, he admits that one of the developmental stages of his parasite is not peculiar to cholera, though he appears to think that the other stages are so : thus raising the doubt whether they are not in reality peculiar, not to any disease, but to his microscope and method of work. On examining some of my own blood in this way, some hours after making the preparation, I had no difficulty in finding several of the stages of development of Dr. Hehir's parasite. One of the stages was exactly mimicked by some altered crenulated red blood corpuscles,which to make the resemblance more complete were in rapid motion, owing to the accidental presence of decay producing microbes. On examininig Dr. Hehir's illustrations there seems to me to be but little room for doubt that another of his stages is nothing but crystals of common salt, others resemble various

A Contribution to the Etiology of Cholera.

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