On the characters, actions, and therapeutic uses of the ordeal bean of Calabar, (Physostigma Venenosum, Balfour) : a graduation thesis, for which a gold medal was awarded by the Edinburgh University, August 1862 / by Thomas R. Fraser, M.D.

  • Fraser, Thomas R. (Thomas Richard), 1841-1920.
Date:
1863
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the characters, actions, and therapeutic uses of the ordeal bean of Calabar, (Physostigma Venenosum, Balfour) : a graduation thesis, for which a gold medal was awarded by the Edinburgh University, August 1862 / by Thomas R. Fraser, M.D. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    tissue, forming a continuous layer immediately below the former, and varies from the l-470th to the l-20th of an inch in thickness. 5. A Fihro-vascular structure embedded in the middle layer, im- mediately below and extending along the whole length of the sulcus. In a transverse section it is seen to possess an elongated ovoid form, and from its lighter colour it is apparent to the naked eye. It has a perpendicular diameter of about the l-65th of an inch, and a transverse diameter of about the l-120th. In a transverse section, it appears to contain a number of irregularly oval cells, with ti'ansverse markings, having their long axes in the same direction as that of the containing structure. 6. Kernel or Embryo.—It consists of two large concavo-convex cotyledons, of a creamy white colour, and easily broken in a mortar or scraped with a knife. In a transverse section these are seen to be in close contact externally with the spermoderm, and internally to be quite separated from each other, except at the margins of the bean. A large cavity is thus left in the centre, which communi- cates with the external atmosphere by means of a minute foramen so small and so narrow as to give no opportunity for the escape of the contained air when the bean is immersed in water. Projecting into this cavity, immediately below the broader extremity of the hilum, may be found the plumule with its two radicles. Microscopically, the kernel consists of a cellular texture, with cavities of hexagonal, and often of very irregular one-sided form. These cells vary from the 1-650th to the l-140th of an inch in diameter. They contain from one to six starch corpuscles, which are readily detached by washing, and give the usual reactions with iodine, bromine, and boiling water. The general form of these starch granules is an elongated oval, fi-equently approaching an irregular reniform shape or rounded parallelogram. They have usually a regular margin, but this is often indented. The surface has, in the majority of cases, a central line in the long axis, sur- rounded by concentric rings, but frequently the central line is superseded by a dark space containing amorphous granules. Occa- sionally, dark radial lines extend, from the central line or space, more or less completely to the circumference, presenting an appear- ance similar to radiated cracks in a transparent sphere. Tlie average length of the starch granule is l-440th of an inch varying from the l-700th to the l-300th. The average breadth was found to be l-625th of an inch, and varied from the l-920th to the l-400th. The bean has been always received remarkably free from all disease,—only one form of abnormality, scarcely deserving the name of disease, having been found. This occurs between the spermo- derm and kernel, and affects the inner surface of the former and the outer of the latter. It consists, on the kernel, of a circular, some- what dark, indented space, varying in diameter from the l-6th to the l-Stli of an inch, and having a central irregular depression from