Excerpt from Sputum: Its Microscopy and Diagnostic and Prognostic Significations Since the discovery of the tubercle bacterium much more interest has been manifested in the microscopical examination of the pulmonary secre tions, a department which had up to that time been neglected by most medical men, and treated as a step-child and Cinderella of their science. This book, imperfect and defective in many ways (for instance, the chemistry of sputa has been almost entirely pretermitted, as being of little practical value), has been written in the hope that it would prove a useful guide to those desirous of applying this branch of study to their every-day work, and help to disseminate knowledge which has proved of service in my own practice. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.