464 OF ABSORPTION AND SANGUIFICATION. 



cause which obstructs the passage of blood through the liver, or which impedes 

 its return to the heart (as in Asphyxia, 574), or which occasions a general 

 internal venous congestion, such as occurs in the cold stage of intermittent fever. 

 The peculiar liability of the Spleen to be distended with blood in this last con- 

 dition, is shown by its permanent enlargement in those who have been long the 

 subjects of such complaints. Thus it appears that the Spleen may serve, inde- 

 pendently of its primary function, as a sort of safety-valve to the portal circula- 

 tion ; and that its structure is most particularly adapted for such a purpose in 

 those tribes of animals which, from their habits of feeding, may be considered 

 most specially to need an organization of this kind. 



491. It is further maintained by Prof. Kolliker, that one function, at least, 

 of the Spleen, is to dissolve the effete Red Corpuscles of the blood, and to prepare 

 their Hsematine for becoming the coloring matter of the Bile. This view is 

 grounded upon the existence of the peculiar aggregations of cells resembling red 

 corpuscles in a state of disintegration, of which mention has already been made 

 ( 482, IV.) ; and it seems to derive confirmation from the results of Beclard's 

 analyses of the blood of the Splenic vein, which show a marked deficiency in the 

 amount of red corpuscles, and an excess of the albuminous constituent, as com- 

 pared with the blood of other parts ( 168). It must be remembered, however, 

 that such aggregations are by no means peculiar to -the Spleen, but have been 

 found in the substance of Muscles, Glands, and other organs ; and although the 

 peculiar conditions of the circulation in the Spleen may tend to produce them 

 in unusual numbers, their formation can scarcely be regarded as one of the 

 essential functions of the organ. 1 



[A most able microscopical and chemical examination of the blood of the 

 splenic vein has been made by Dr. OTTO FUNKE. The original paper published 

 in "Henle's Zeitschrift/' 1851, p. 172, is a very long one, and we have selected 

 only some portions of it. Funke, for various reasons, chose the blood of horses 

 for his investigation. 



Under the microscope, the splenic venous blood presented remarkable differ- 

 ences from the blood of the general venous system, as represented by the blood 

 of the jugular vein, and from arterial blood. The red corpuscles did not form 

 rouleaux, but in great numbers were aggregated in thick, irregular heaps, or in 

 smaller numbers (6 to 12) forming little round or angular flakes, such as Ecker 

 describes in the spleen-pulp. Pressure did not separate these heaps, but merely 

 produced chasms at certain points. After some days, this firm cohesion of the 

 corpuscles diminished. The size of the corpuscles varied extremely, but the 

 majority were very small smaller, indeed, than the corpuscles found elsewhere. 

 The white corpuscles were excessively numerous ; in one case they amounted 

 in number to a quarter or a third part of the colored particles ; they collected 

 also in heaps, and seemed to be united by a fine molecular matter. In some 

 places they were mixed up with the red particles. In size they varied greatly, 

 being sometimes as large as a red particle, at other times double the size. Some 

 clearly contained a single nucleus. Although not absolutely certain of the 

 fact, Funke believes that he traced the transition forms from one set of particles 

 into the other. 



Besides these cells there were constantly present "granular cells" (Kornchen- 

 zellen), so to call them, although Funke does not desire to imply that they are 

 the same as the various cell-forms often placed under this title. They were 

 larger than the colorless corpuscles, and lay among them aggregated, or in heaps 

 of two or three together. They were undoubtedly cells, and the cell wall 

 could be plainly seen ; they were always spherical, transparent, with a defined 

 border, and contained from four to ten small, dark, outlined, strongly refracting 



1 See Prof. J. H. Bennett in "Edinb. Monthly Journal," March, 1852, p. 211. 



