FROM THE BLOOD. 



contain these particles of living matter. The follow- 

 ing paragraphs are taken from a paper written by me 

 in 1863*: 



" When the capillary vessels are distended, as in 

 that extreme congestion which soon passes into in- 

 flammation, a fluid which possesses coagulable pro- 

 perties transudes through the stretched capillary 

 walls. It is probable that in such cases minute 

 and narrow fissures result, which, however, are too 

 narrow to allow an ordinary white or red blood-cor- 

 puscle to escape, but, nevertheless, wide enough to 

 permit many of the minute particles of the living or 

 germinal matter (the existence of which in the blood 

 has been already referred to) to pass through. The 

 small protrusions upon the surface of the white blood- 

 corpuscle might grow through the capillary walls, 

 become detached, and pass into the tissue external to 

 the vessels. Such minute particles of living matter 

 external to the vessels being surrounded with nutrient 

 pabulum, and stationary, would grow and multiply 

 rapidly, while a similar change would of course go on 

 in the now stagnant fluid in the interior of the capil- 

 lary. The result would be exactly that which is 

 observed, viz., the presence of a vast number of cells 

 like white blood-corpuscles in the interior of the 

 capillary vessel, and immediately around its external 



* "On the Germinal Matter of the Blood, with remarks upon the 

 Formation of Fibrin." Microscopical Society, December, 9th, 1863. 

 See Trans. Mic. Soc., April, 1864. 



L 2 



