A contribution to the study of intestinal sand with notes on a case in which it was passed / by Sir Dyce Duckworth and Archibald E. Garrod.

  • Duckworth Dyce, Sir, 1840-1928.
Date:
1902
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: A contribution to the study of intestinal sand with notes on a case in which it was passed / by Sir Dyce Duckworth and Archibald E. Garrod. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    like materia] in the motions, namely, the sclerenchyinatous particles which are so abundantly present in the flesli of pears, and especially in that of certain varieties. The occurrence of such sand in the motions was described by C. Robin in 1873, and some at least of the specimens described by Laboulbene in the same year were obviously of this nature. Eiehhorst described a case in 1889, and Furbringer called special attention to this material as simulating biliary concretions. Naunyn also refers to it as one of the varieties of so-called biliary sand.* In this country specimens of this kind have been brought before the notice of the Pathological Society of London by Delepine and Sliattock. A specimen of pear sand in our possession, for which we are indebted to the kindness of Dr. J. H. Drysdale, is paler in colour and more coarsely granular (0*3—0*6 mm.) than that passed by our patient, and when burnt leaves only 1*76 per cent, of inorganic residue. Other observers have obtained from 2 to 3 per cent, of such residue, figures which contrast sharply with the much higher percentage of mineral constituents in specimens of true intestinal sand. The microscopic appearance of the pear sand is very characteristic (Fig. 2). When examined under a low power the granules appear as if studded with projecting crystals, and after removal of any inorganic incrustation by an acid, they are seen to be composed of woody cells, the thick, transparent walls of which are traversed by channels running from the narrow cell-cavities towards the surface. In a word, the granules are easily recog- nised as identical with the particles of sclerenchyinatous tissue in the fruit from which they are derived, and of which the patient will be found to have partaken freely. There is reason to believe that these woody particles may * Since this paper was read we have found a description of the pear sand by Dr. Alexander Marcet, in his “ Essay on Calculous Disorders/' (p. 132) published in 1817. The description was based upon specimens the true nature of which had been recognised by Wollaston.
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