THE BLOOD. 57 



necessary ; and yet there have been not a few who have inclined 

 to make such a conclusion, from their considering this crust or 

 size as so very morbid an appearance. 



4thly, As the blood in the third cup was so late as thirty- 

 nve minutes in coagulating, and was sizy, whilst that in the 

 fourth was not so, and jellied in less than three minutes, al- 

 though it had been taken from the vessels only two minutes 

 after the other, but at the time the patient had become faint ; 

 it shows how much faintness and languor increase the viscidity 

 of the blood, and likewise its disposition to coagulate, since in 

 two minutes they produced such a change as to remove the 

 size, and to reduce the time of coagulation from thirty-five to 

 three minutes. It therefore shows clearly how much languor 

 and faintness should be encouraged in hemorrhages, and how 

 carefully we should avoid giving anything that can stimulate, 

 or rouse the patient ; that the medicines likely to be of service 

 are nitre and the acids ; or such as cool the body, or have the 

 property of diminishing the force of the circulation, or of in- 

 creasing that languor or faintness ;* that all agitation of mind 

 should, as much as possible, be prevented, lest it increase the 

 circulation; that all muscular motion should be avoided for 

 the same reason : for that an exertion of the patient's strength 

 can lessen the disposition of the blood to coagulate, I am per- 

 suaded from some of the above-mentioned cases, and likewise 

 from what I have observed in dying sheep, where the struggles 

 of the expiring animal seemed in some instances, when violent, 

 to alter the properties of the lymph (see Note xxiv) . 



We have endeavoured to explain the appearance of the in- 

 flammatory crust or size, from the red globules having subsided 

 from the surface of such blood before it coagulated : this we 

 observed was partly owing to the lymph's being later in coagu- 



1 It has been objected here, that nitre would seem improper for this purpose, be- 

 cause in experiments mentioned before (p. 12) it was found to prevent the coagula- 

 tion of the blood, out of the body ; but this objection is removed, by considering, 

 that, in order to prevent coagulation, the nitre must be used at least in the proportion 

 of two scruples to every two ounces of blood. But, when we exhibit it internally, 

 we seldom give more than a scruple every two hours, which can have no effect in 

 attenuating the whole mass of blood, nor in preventing coagulation, especially as we 

 have reason to believe its properties are changed before it passes the digestive organs. 

 Its good effects in hemorrhages, therefore, are probably owing to its action upon the 

 stomach. For proofs of its utility, see ' Medical Observations and Inquiries,' vol. iv, 



