THE BLOOD. 91 



of separated fibrin under the circumstances may be increased, but 

 pure serum globulin prepared from transudation free from enzymes 

 is inactive. The same action on the amount of fibrin separated 

 which the impure serum globulin shows also occurs by the action 

 of the substance precipitated by acetic acid from a watery extract 

 of the leucocytes of the lymphatic glands. This substance, which 

 is neither identical with serum globulin nor contaminated by it, 

 may, according to SCHMIDT and RAUSCHENBACH, increase the 

 amount of fibrin in filtered plasma about 25$. Finally, a fibrinogen 

 solution free from serum globulin, and a fibrin ferment solution 

 also free from serum globulin, may yield a typical fibrin (AUTHOR). 

 It is therefore hardly possible to accept this part of SCHMIDT'S 

 theory. It is much more probable that the impure serum globulin 

 furthers the separation of the fibrin indirectly, in the same way as 

 CaCl 2 (AUTHOR) and the lime salts in general (GREEN, KRUGER). 

 It is a fact that a typical fibrin is formed from fibrinogen alone in 

 the presence of fibrin ferment and mineral bodies (alkali chlorides 

 and lime salts). 



In regard to the importance of the colorless blood-corpuscles in 

 the coagulation of the blood opinions are somewhat diverse. Ac- 

 cording to BIZZOZERO and others, it is not the colorless blood- 

 corpuscles but the blood-tablets which represent the starting-point 

 for the formation of fibrin, a view against which weighty objec- 

 tions have been urged by LOWIT and others. WOOLDRIDGE also 

 considers the colorless blood-corpuscles as only of secondary im- 

 portance. As found by him, a peptone-plasma which has been 

 freed from all form-constituents by centrifugal force yields large 

 quantities of fibrin when it is not separated from a substance 

 which precipitates by cooling and which, on microscopical exami- 

 nation, is very similar to BIZZOZERO'S blood-tablets. Neverthe- 

 less, as LOWIT has found that homogeneous drops may exude from 

 the white blood-corpuscles before the coagulation which take a 

 form similar to tablets, it is probable that the substance observed 

 by WOOLDRIDGE which, on cooling, separates as a formation 

 similar to tablets originates from the colorless blood-corpuscles. 

 That a coagulation without a destruction of the colorless blood- 

 corpuscles may take place has been clearly demonstrated by 

 LOWIT, who, however, does not dispute the importance of the 



