DEFENSIVE FERMENTS IN BLOOD CORPUSCLES 11$ 



contained in the tissue. The appearance of defensive 

 ferments, after the extraction of blood, is without 

 doubt to be ascribed to the destruction of red blood 

 corpuscles that results therefrom. Is it not possible 

 that the absorption of plugs of fibrin that occlude the 

 walls of the vessels may be connected with defensive 

 ferments, and may not the latter also have a share 

 in the organization of thrombi? 



Defensive ferments, which decompose the albumen 

 of blood corpuscles, may be produced by means of 

 injections of haemolytic blood, and herein lies a 

 source of error which should never be under- 

 estimated. Only organs that are absolutely free 

 from blood give conclusive results. Defensive fer- 

 ments, which decompose the albumen of blood 

 corpuscles, are frequently met with in carcinoma. 

 Any extravasation of blood into the tissues, however 

 slight, will give rise to this kind of defensive ferments. 



Within the domain of pathology there is no field 

 which would not lend itself to researches based on the 

 methods we have described. We will call attention 

 to some. In the first place we can try, by means of 

 defensive ferments directed against certain kinds of 

 cells, to discover those organs which are giving off 

 substances that are out of harmony with the blood 

 or the plasma. This would be the case, when a 

 particular organ fails to complete its otherwise 

 normal metabolism. But it is also possible that 



