TREATMENT Ol' INFLAMMATION. 203 



companied by any pathological phenomena. They 

 also demonstrate the essentially vital nature of the 

 process of arterial determination ; for the closure of 

 the left renal artery, as a physical cause, could have 

 had very little to do with the enlargement of the 

 right, its action (through the additional accumulation 

 of blood in the aorta) being immediate ; whereas the 

 increased size of the latter vessel was clearly referrible 

 to the operation of some slowly-acting persistent 

 cause. 



The next group of experiments exhibits the effects 

 of an extreme and sudden increase in the supply of 

 blood to an organ previously healthy. Having failed 

 to produce any pathological phenomena, either by 

 obstructing the aorta below the origin of the renal 

 arteries, or by removing one kidney, I thought it 

 possible that, by conjoining the two operations, and 

 selecting stronger animals, more decided results 

 might be obtained. In the paper published in the 

 " Medico-Chirurgical Transactions for 1843," seven 

 such experiments are related, in four of which the 

 urine contained albuminous matters : but, as these 

 successful experiments were not considered suffi- 

 ciently numerous to counterbalance the failures, I 

 have felt it necessary to repeat the observation, and 

 trust that the additional facts now adduced will 

 suffice to establish the point in question. The con- 

 ditions of the experiment may be very briefly ex- 

 plained. In a strong and healthy animal, the aorta, 

 exposed by an incision passing between the left 

 lumbar and abdominal muscles, was completely ob- 



