534 



OF ABSORPTION AND SANGUIFICATION. 



Fig. 210. 



sently appear ( 705), it may result from a very opposite condition of the 

 Blood. A similar colourless layer of Fibrine is always observable, when the 

 Coagulation of the blood is retarded by the addition of agents that have the 

 power of delaying it ( 699) ; and since, in Inflammatory states of the system, 

 the blood is generally long in coagulating, it has been supposed that the sepa- 

 ration of the red particles is due to this cause alone. Dr. Alison,* however, 

 main tains that there must be an absolute tendency to separation between the 

 two components of the clot, in order to account for the phenomena sometimes 

 presented by it; and he adduces the two following reasons in support of this 

 view. " 1. The formation of the Bufly coat, though no doubt favoured or 

 rendered more complete by slow coagulation, is often observed in cases where 

 the coagulation is more rapid than usual; and the colouring matter is usually 

 observed to retire from the surface of the fluid in such cases, before any 

 coagulation has commenced. 2. The separation of the Fibrine from the 

 colouring matter in such cases takes place in films of blood, so thin as not to 

 admit of a stratum of the one being laid above the other; they separate from 

 each other laterally, and the films acquire a speckled or mottled appearance, 

 equally characteristic of the state of the blood with the buffy coat itself." 

 It appears from the observations of Mr. Wharton Jones, that the red corpus- 

 cles of Inflammatory Blood have an 

 unusual attraction for each other, which 

 occasions their coalescence in piles and 

 masses; so that by this character, the 

 state of the Blood may be detected, 

 from the examination of no more than 

 a single drop of the fluid. Now if we 

 consider, in connection with this in- 

 crease in the mutual attraction of the 

 Blood-discs, the increase in the mutual 

 attraction of the particles of Fibrine 

 (which causes the coagulum of Inflam- 

 matory blood to be so much firmer and 

 more decidedly fibrous than that of the 

 healthy fluid), we have a cause suffi- 

 cient to explain the phenomena noticed 

 by Dr. Alison; without tile necessity 

 of resorting to the idea of an absolute 

 repulsion being present between the two 

 constituents. It is in the Bufly Coat 

 of Inflammatory Blood, that we see 

 the clearest indications of organization 

 ever presented by the circulating fluid. 

 The fibrous network is frequently extremely distinct; and it commonly in- 

 i.-ludes a large number of White Corpuscles in its meshes. Sometimes, 

 indeed, according to the observations of Mr. Addison, it almost entirely con- 

 sists of these bodies. In its Chemical Composition, the bufly coat of Inflam- 

 matory blood appears to be peculiar; containing a larger or smaller amount 

 of the substance, readily soluble in boiling water, which is considered by 

 Mulder to be the Tritoxide of Proteine ( 116, ). 



705. When the Bull' arises from other causes, however, its appearance is 

 less characteristic. It appears from the researches of Andral, that the usual 

 condition of its production is an increase in the quantity of Fibrine in propor- 

 tion to the Red Corpuscles; and not a simple increase of Fibrine. When the 



* Outlines of Physiology, 3d edition, p. 89. 



The microscopic appearance of a drop of blood 

 in the inflammatory condition. The red corpus- 

 cles lose their circular form and adhere together ; 

 the white corpuscles remain apart, and are more 

 abundant than usual. 



