1863.] 399 



IV. " On the Artificial Production of Fibrin from Albumen." 

 By ALFRED HUTCHISON SMEE, Junior, Student of St. Bar- 

 tholomew's Hospital. Communicated by W. S. SAVORY, 

 Esq. Received January 15, 1863. 



The condition in which fibrin exists in the blood and other fluids, 

 and the deviation in quantity and quality in certain cases of disease 

 from that of normal blood, has been to physiologists a subject of 

 great interest. From the close resemblance of fibrin to albumen, I 

 was induced to undertake a series of experiments, which appear to 

 me to have some value in determining the conditions under which 

 fibrin is derived from albumen, and which have resulted in the dis- 

 covery of the general principle by which the direct conversion of 

 albumen into fibrin may be effected. On referring to Lehmann's 

 * Chemistry, 5 in which the analyses of albumen and fibrin are quoted, it 

 will be observed, on comparing them, that the difference appears to 

 be the substitution of 1*5 part of oxygen per 100 for a similar 

 amount of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, sulphur, phosphorus con- 

 joined. 



The following are the analyses quoted : 



Albumen. Fibrin. 



53-5 Carbon 527 



7'0 Hydrogen 6'9 



15'5 Nitrogen . . . . . 15'4 



1-6 Sulphur 1*2 



0-4 Phosphorus .... 0'3 



22-0 Oxygen 23'5 



100-0 100-0 



The analyses made by Scherer give comparatively the same 

 results. 



From these analyses I was induced to make some experiments to 

 endeavour to convert albumen into fibrin by the direct addition of 

 oxygen gas, by which I anticipated that not only might the oxygen 

 be imparted to the albumen, but also that the other elements might 

 be oxidized and carried off. 



In my first experiments I used blood from which the fibrin had 

 been carefully whipped during the period of its coagulation, so that 

 the serum might contain as many blood-cells as possible, upon the 



