PROPERTIES OF THE BLOOD. 439 



disintegrated corpuscles, that the fibrinous filaments shoot out on all sides, as 

 from so many centres ; or frequently the filaments are more copious in two 

 opposite directions."! 



580. Besides the red corpuscles and the colourless globules, it is stated by 

 Mr. Gulliver,* that the blood obtained from Mammals after death not unfre- 

 quently contains an abundance of white matter, generally presenting the form 

 of spherules, having a diameter of from l-4000th to 1-1 750th of an inch. 

 They frequently seem to have a semi-fluid consistency, especially in the blood 

 of the rnesenteric veins, in which the white matter is found most abundantly. 

 The appearance of these globules (which appear to be the same with the 

 fibrinous globules of Mandl) is probably to be attributed to Pathological changes, 

 and especially to the existence of Tubercular disease ; a large proportion of 

 the granular matter of caseous tubercles consists of similar corpuscles. The 

 milky serum, which sometimes occurs when patients are bled not long after a 

 meal, and which is seen not unfrequently in the blood drawn from young ani- 

 mals, is usually found, by the highest powers of the microscope, to present the 

 granular base, which has been already described in the account of chyle 

 ( 563]. The appearance seems due, however, in some instances, to the diffu- 

 sion 01 oily matter, in a less finely divided state than usual, through the fluid ; 

 in some of these cases, a very large amount of fat has been shown, by chemical 

 analysis, to exist in it.t The only visible constituents of ordinary blood which 

 remain to be noticed, are the corpuscles of the Spleen ( 708) and of the Supra- 

 Renal capsules ( 711) which may be frequently observed in the Splenic and 

 Supra Renal veins respectively. According to Schultz, the red corpuscles of 

 the Portal vein differ from those of the rest of the vascular system, in their 

 tendency to decay; their colouring matter is soluble in the liquor sanguinis, 

 which is not the case elsewhere ; and they seem to have lost a portion of their 

 contractility. 



581. Having now separately considered the chief Organic Elements which 

 enter into the composition of the Blood, we are prepared to inquire into the 

 characters of this fluid as a whole. The analysis of M. LecanuJ is usually 

 regarded as the most complete and satisfactory. The following is his account 

 of the composition of the fluid, obtained from two stout and healthy Men. 



Water 780-145 785-590 



Fibrin 2-100 3-565 



Albumen 65-090 69-415 



Colouring matter (globules) .... 133-000 119-626 



Fatty crystallizable matter .... 2-430 4-300 



change. Again, the augmentation of the fibrin is not incompatible with a chlorotic state 

 of the blood; the peculiar characteristic of which is a great diminution in the proportion 

 of red corpuscles. By such alterations, the normal proportions between the fibrin and 

 the red corpuscles, which may be stated as A: B, may be so much altered, as to become, in 

 inflammation, 3 A : B, in chlorisis, A : B. Again, in fever, the characteristic alteration in 

 the condition of the blood appears to be an increase in the amount of red corpuscles, 

 with a diminution in the quantity of fibrin ; yet if a local inflammation should establish 

 itself during the course of the fever, the proportion of fibrin will rise; and this without 

 any change in the amount of corpuscles. Lastly, the effect of loss of blood has been 

 shown by Andral's investigations to be a marked diminution in the number of red cor- 

 puscles, with no decided reduction in the quantity of fibrin, even when this is much 

 above its normal standard; and in this condition of the blood, it has been observed by 

 Remak that the colourless corpuscles are very numerous. 



* Gerber's Anatomy, Appendix, p. 21. 



f For some very interesting observations lately made on this subject, see 711, note. 



i Journal de Pharmacie, Nos. ix. and x., 1831. 



