Mastoid process

“ He says further that "it is true that we shall seldom need to open the mastoid if an experienced practitioner sees a case of acute aural disease early in its course. It is an operation for neglected cases, where suppuration has been allowed to advance from the tympanic cavity in consequence of not having a free outlet through the drum-head. But purulent inflammation of the mastoid may occur in acute cases that have been thoroughly treated by leeching, poultices, rest, etc., from the start." ”

“ Inflammation of the Mucous Membrane of the Mastoid Cells is caused generally by extension of inflammation from the middle-ear cavity, either of a catarrhal or purulent character, causing the cell-cavities to quickly fill up with the inflammatory products which escape through the antrum and middle-ear cavity into the external canal. If this way is closed, the fluids accumulate in the mastoid cells and form conditions favorable to involvement of the internal organs.
SYMPTOMS.—Severe pain, tenderness, and redness of skin over mastoid, but not the marked swelling that is found in periostitis. ”

“ It is not only dangerous to life, and very quickly, but it is full of disagreeable and dangerous possibilities, lifelong discharge from the ear, an external fistulous opening, a permanent paralysis of the facial nerve, abscess in the brain. Brain symptoms, paralysis and pus symptoms do not now preclude an operation on the mastoid for mastoid disease. The patient should be closely watched and an operation performed as soon as called for. ”

“ The rough mastoid portion of the temporal bone is toward the back and affords attachment to various muscles, of which the most important are the occipito-frontalis and the sterno-cleido-mastoid. Within it are the mastoid cells, which communicate with the inner ear and are lined with mucous membrane continuous with that of the tympanum. They probably have something to do with the hearing. In children they often become [Pg 52] the seat of inflammation (mastoid abscess) in infectious diseases and the mastoid bone has to be cut to let out pus that has collected. ”

“ The first step is to see that the mastoid wound cavity is rendered thoroughly aseptic and dry. All bleeding points in the soft tissues are arrested by means of pressure forceps. The mastoid cavity is then filled with hydrogen peroxide lotion, which is afterwards syringed out with a warm saline solution, the cavity being dried with sterilized strips of gauze, and finally packed from the bottom with a fresh strip.
Fig. 234. Skin-grafting of Mastoid Wound Cavity after Operation. Skin graft being transferred from the spatula to the mastoid cavity. ”

“ We know that the mast cells are produced in large quantities locally, wherever an over-nutrition of the connective tissue occurs, for instance in chronic diseases of the skin, elephantiasis, brown induration of the lungs. In the case of the mast cells, then, we see the conditions actually realised, which the supporters of the theory of the local origin of the eosinophil cells only assume. We should therefore expect that an increase of mast cells in the blood or in certain inflammatory exudations would be by no means seldom. ”

“ Whilst for instance the majority of the granules are more or less rounded forms, in some classes of animals, e.g. in birds, the analogues of the granules of mammalian blood are characterised by a decided crystalline form, and a strong oxyphilia. The substance of the mast cell granulations is also crystalline in some species of animals.
The size of the individual granules is constant in any animal species for every kind of granule—excepting only the mast cells. The eosinophil granulation reaches its greatest size in the horse, where really gigantic examples are found. ”

“ The cells which have undergone histological differentiation can increase by fission, and thus supply the place of those which are being continually destroyed in the course of metabolism. The difference between the higher and lower Metazoa in this respect lies in the fact that there is only one generation of somatic cells in the latter, and these are used up in the process of metabolism at almost the same time that the reproductive cells are extruded, while among the former there are successive generations of somatic cells. ”

“ The nipple is retracted in most of these cases, which, however, are not often met with.
Chronic Mastitis is of frequent occurrence in women who are past middle age. The part of the breast involved is enlarged, hard, and more or less tender and painful. It is sometimes impossible clinically to distinguish this disease from cancer. True, the tumour is not so definite or so hard as a cancer, nor is it attached to the skin, nor to the muscles of the chest wall, and if there are any glands secondarily enlarged in the arm-pit they are not so hard as they may be in cancer. ”

“ Mastitis begins, as a rule, during the second week of life. The breast becomes red, swollen, painful, and shows inflammatory changes. It may terminate without the formation of an abscess, or it may go on to suppuration. The child becomes extremely restless and irritable, it is disinclined to nurse, and suffers from loss of sleep and nourishment. It is possible for such a condition, in the female, to injure the breast to the extent of arresting its development and to render it useless in the future. ”

“ The staining power of the nuclei is very small, and it is therefore hard to make out the shape of the nucleus without the use of difficult methods. In triacid preparations the granulation is unstained, and the mast cells appear as clear, polynuclear cells, free from granules. ”

“ Young individuals are stained by Gram's method; older individuals are, however, Gram negative. The optimum temperature is 112° F. Kuntze attempted to isolate the organisms mentioned by Luerssen and Kühn, and by plate culture procured growth of a spore-forming bacillus similar to Weigmann's Bacillus matzoon. To this organism is attributed the power to impart a specific taste to the matzoon, but as growth is comparatively slow, it can only be of significance in determining the quality of the curd and cheese prepared from this product. ”

“ Had man not found her ready to his hand, and foreseen her capacity in this direction, he might have turned his attention to the mastodon, which in that case would now be grazing in vast numbers among the woods planted for his sustenance, and would be affording mountains of flesh and tuns of milk, while mastodon butter might have been able to hold its own against margarine and other fatty compounds. ”

“ Some modern writers have attempted to clear up the actions of certain medicines by their supposed influence on the physical process of endosmosis, as carried on through the coats of the stomach and intestines. Poissenille and Matteucci have attempted to prove that the action of saline liquids in causing purging, and that of a solution of morphia in preventing the same, may be explained by the endosmotic properties of these liquids, as ascertained by experiment. ”

“ According to Van Someren, if the habit of masticating efficiently is once acquired, the food is not swallowed before it is converted into the liquid state, the swallowing of unmasticated lumps being effectually prevented by a pharyngeal reflex.
Mastication, by breaking the food up into small particles, enables it to be brought into intimate contact with the digestive juices.—Such comminution is especially needful in the case of raw vegetable foods of the tougher kind, in order to break up their cellulose framework, and to set free the contained starch, proteids, and fats. ”

“ On the eighth day there was a considerable quantity of flake-like sediment, and some amount of general turbidity. On the thirteenth day the vacuum was found to be still partly preserved. When the flask was opened the fluid was perceived to have a fœtid odour, and an acid re-action; and, on microscopical examination, multitudes of Bacteria and Vibriones were seen. In the flake-like aggregations also (made up almost wholly of these organisms) there were a number of large thick-walled spores; some already formed, and others in process of formation by coalescence. ”

“ This is an easily carried out and effective method of obtaining less intensely stained but more permanent preparations. (b) The many methods of obtaining differential staining of protoplasm and nucleus depend on the circumstance that, when solutions of certain kinds of methylene blue and eosin are mixed, a third red dye, with a special affinity for chromatin, is formed. They are all modifications of the original Romanowsky method. They are a little uncertain and troublesome to use, their success depending on the purity of the chemicals employed and careful attention to detail. ”

“ This hydrolysis is brought about by the enzyme "diastase," which is present in the sprouting grain.
Maltose is easily soluble in water, and crystallizes in masses of slender needles. It is a reducing sugar; readily forms a characteristic osazone; is strongly dextrorotatory (specific rotatory power +137°) ; and is readily fermented by ordinary brewer's yeast, which contains both "maltase" (the enzyme which hydrolyzes maltose to glucose) and "zymase" (the alcohol-producing enzyme) . When hydrolyzed, either by dilute acids or by maltase, one molecule of maltose yields two molecules of glucose. ”

“ This does not usually occur in adult life, and the process of reparation of lost parts is apparently due to the active growth of the cells of the parts affected during the process of moulting, when the histolysis of the maimed or diseased parts is succeeded by the rapid development of new cells, not only of the hypodermis, but also of the more specialized tissues within. ”

“ The process of staining kills the plants so that we cannot see the little whips in action.
Having detected that movement is taking place, a little adjustment of focus and a further search will reveal the bacilli to us, as little rod-like, colourless individuals. We shall see their cell contents if they are sufficiently highly magnified and also their cell walls. We may even observe them splitting, each one into two individuals. We must keep our sample of water for later examination. In fact, we may examine drops from day to day, in exactly the same manner. ”

“ The macrophages are to be found not only in the blood but also in different organs such as the liver, spleen, kidneys, etc.; they seize upon living cells by means of mobile protoplasmic prolongations with which they draw them in and end by ingesting them completely. Not only do they thus absorb foreign cellular elements such as red corpuscles, spermatozoa, etc., but also all the weakened cells of the organism itself.
This weakening may be due to normal phenomena such as the metamorphosis of insects or tadpoles, when certain organs, as they weaken, become useless or inactive. ”

“ On cooling, the solution becomes turbid. It dissolves slowly in 5 parts of oil of cloves, forming even in the cold a clear solution; it is but little soluble in glacial acetic acid or in benzol.
Chemical Composition—Mastich is soluble to the extent of about 90 per cent in cold alcohol; the residue, which has been termed Masticin or Beta-resin of Mastich, is a translucent, colourless, tough substance, insoluble in boiling alcohol or in solution of caustic alkali, but dissolving in ether or oil of turpentine. ”

“ These, like the chromatophores, multiply by direct fission. The "reserves" may be (1) fat-globules; (2) granules of a possibly proteid substance termed "leucosin"; (3) a carbohydrate termed "paramylum," differing slightly from starch (see p. 95) ; (4) true starch, which is usually deposited in minute granules to form an investment for the pyrenoid when such is present.
A strongly staining granule is usually present in the plasma near the base of the flagellum. This we may term a "blepharoplast" or a "centrosome" in the wider sense.
Fission is usually longitudinal in the active state ”

“ Roger stammered, "I've killed seven with it; that's not what I call a cure."
"Did you inject the seven with the dead culture first?" Lionel asked.
"No. Only myself and you."
"There you are," said Lionel. "You griffs make the discoveries, and haven't got the gumption to see them. My good Lord! It's as plain as measles. You inject the dead culture. That's the first step. That makes the trypanosomes agglutinise. Very well, then. You inject your serum when they are agglutinised; not before. When they are agglutinised, the serum destroys them, after raising queer symptoms. ”

“ The influence in setting up adenoids of toxic saturation with its resulting catarrhal tendency is shown by the frequency with which this affection follows upon the rhinitis and naso-pharyngitis of measles and diphtheria, and in order to realise how greatly the circulation of blood and lymph in the walls of the naso-pharynx must be influenced by mastication, one has but to remember how very closely the pterygoids are related to this region; in exploring it for adenoids they can, indeed, often be felt to stand out prominently. ”

“ Thus the male cells of ferns are attracted not only by the malic acid secreted naturally by the archegonia, but by synthetically prepared malic acid, whilst the male cells of mosses are attracted either by the natural acid of the female cells or by acid prepared from cane sugar. ”

“ These results indicate that selection for AMI should be quite successful in pigs, but that selection for animals with general disease resistance to most pathogens will be quite difficult or even impossible.
DISEASE RESISTANCE IN RUMINANTS Mastitis has been the chief focus of studies of genetic mechanisms of disease resistance in cattle. The etiology of mastitis is quite complex since many pathogens can actually cause the disease and numerous environmental factors can influence its progression, resulting in low heritability. ”