34 



wasting of bioplasts. Thus we muv have contraction and con- 



O " 



den sat ion of the liver, kidney, and other glands, or waste of 

 the muscular, nervous, and other tissues. Cirrhosis of the 

 liver is an example. The normal liver cell is a soft, moist 

 substance without cell wall. Its bioplasm, as all others, is 

 nourished from the inside. Xow if the cells are bathed with 

 improper pabulum, as alcohol, which renders albumen hard 

 and insoluble, then nutrition is interrupted, the}' shrink in size, 

 less pabulum is absorbed, and the}' gradually condense, waste 

 and die. This instance shows the action of alcohol and 

 astringents in restricting the growth of bioplasm, and suggests 

 the close relation of histology and therapeutics. 



2. Inflammation. 



This is a complex process, parti}- vascular and partly tex- 

 tural, but closely connected with bioplasm. 



i. The phenomena of inflammation since the days of Celsus 

 have been described as redness, swelling, heat, and pain, with 

 impaired or arrested function. They ma}- be studied by plac- 

 ing a drop of acid upon, or scratching with a needle, a frog's 

 foot, tongue, or mesentery, stretched over the stage of the 

 microscope. First there will be seen a derangement of the cir- 

 culation, producing hyperaemia and congestion. Dilatation 

 takes place, first in the arteries, then in the veins and capilla- 

 ries, so that red blood cells occur in the latter. The flow of 

 blood at first is more rapid, then slower, the uhite cells are 

 disposed to linger at the wall of the vessel, and the red cells 

 take the place of white ones in the capillaries. Then exuda- 

 tion occurs. A number of the white cells migrate or pass 

 through the walls of vein or capillary vessel, and red blood 

 cells from the capillary. There is also an escape of liquid 

 plasma, rich in albumen. Fig. 6, PI. 2. 



2. The agencies of inflammation are innumerable. ( i) The in- 

 jurious agent may affect the vessels through the blood and the 

 surrounding tissue suffer secondarily. (2) The injury may af- 

 fect vessels and tissues at the same time. (3) The alteration in 

 the wall of the vessel may be secondary to alteration- of tissue. 



3. Several theories of inflammation have been advanced. 



