134 



SIMPLE EXUDATION 



of extremely minute particles of living matter will, I 

 think, be admitted to be conclusive, while the effects 

 produced by these in a. living organism cannot be 

 explained by physics or chemistry, or imitated artifi- 

 cially. Few persons will in these days be so deluded 

 as to accept as an explanation the assertion that vital 

 phenomena are " molecular," 1 or admit that it conveys 

 any more information than the announcement that the 

 phenomena of living beings are due to the molecular 

 changes in the basis of physical life. Such " expla- 

 nations" explain nothing, and are but impertinent 

 fictions of the imagination. 



Simple Rxudation. The transparent colourless 

 fluid which moistens the surface of a superficial wound 

 after it has ceased to bleed, is poured out from the 

 capillaries, or from the lymphatic vessels,, or from 

 both sets of vessels. This fluid, besides containing 

 albumen in solution, contains multitudes of minute 

 particles ,of bioplasm, which grow and multiply upon 

 the surface. These form fibrin and matters more or 

 less allied to it, and perform an essential part in the 

 healing process, or in the formation of pus, as the 

 case may be. These minute particles of living matter 

 are present in the blood and lymph in countless 

 numbers. They are concerned in the production of 

 fibrous tissue outside the capillaries, which takes place 

 in many pathological processes, and also in the pro- 

 duction of pus-corpuscles, and other " corpuscles " in 

 the same situation, in disease. All " exudations " 



