COM PENS A TOR Y A CTION. 329 



is observed as regards alcohol. In the experiments of 

 Parkes and Wollowicz, moderate doses of alcohol 

 appeared to influence very little the temperature of 

 the body or the amount of nitrogen excreted. Traces 

 of alcohol escaped, but there can be no doubt that the 

 larger proportion was appropriated by the bioplasm 

 of the blood, and afterwards eliminated in the form 

 of excremei titious matters, especially carbonic acid 

 and water. But in fevers and inflammations the 

 mechanism by which this process of compensation is 

 carried out undergoes deterioration or is seriously 

 damaged, so that artificial efforts are required to put 

 it into operation at all. In health it works perfectly 

 well without the introduction of any stimulants or 

 other substances from without. 



The manner in which this compensatory action is 

 effected has been described in my Croonian Lecture 

 (Proceedings of the Royal Society, May II, 1865), and 

 before this in a memoir " On Deficiency of Vital Power 

 in Disease, and on Support," published in the British 

 Medical Journal, for 1863. The following extract 

 will serve to explain the matter : " If you press upon 

 the distended vessels of an inflamed part, as is well 

 known, the blood is driven out of them, and the skin 

 becomes quite pale ; but the moment the pressure is 

 withdrawn, the redness recurs, and exhibits precisely 

 the same tint as before. From this it is clear, not: 

 only that the capillaries are distended, but that the 

 calibre of the small arteries through which the blood 



