212 



THE SPLEEN. 



tradictory, for it is to be remembered that the blood of the spleen is a 

 constituent of the portal circulation. It also appears to be a general 

 Opinion that the spleen likewise maintains a mechanical relation to the 

 portal mechanism by serving as a receptacle for any excess of blood, 

 and thus relieving the vessels of pressure, or by acting in like manner 

 when there is any obstruction to the passage of blood through the liver. 



As our knowledge of the action of the ordinary glands becomes more 

 Analogy of the accurate, the function of the ductless glands loses much of 

 S^ttMdncfe- its P eculiarit 7- As we have already stated, in a certain 

 less. sense the liver itself may be said to be a ductless gland, for 



it appears to be one of the constant duties of that organ to prepare sugar 

 from materials in which it did not pre-exist. And this sugar does not 

 escape through the hepatic ducts in company with the bile, but is taken 

 directly into the system through the hepatic veins. But this principle 

 of action is identically what occurs in the case of every ductless gland, 

 and hence it may be inferred that the changes which these impress on the 

 blood are necessary for the development and nutrition of the system. If 

 the doctrine of Kolliker, be correct, the spleen is only an appendix to the 

 liver, and the same duct answers as a common outlet for both. 



The views here alluded to are enforced by the examinations which 

 Nature of have been made of the blood of the splenic vein. The fol- 

 spienic blood. l ow i n g table exhibits the contrast between it, that of the ex- 

 ternal jugular, and that of the mammary artery. 



Constitution of Splenic Blood. (From Scherer.") 



,. From which it appears that the blood, after circulating through the 

 spleen, has lost a- large portion of its cells, the relative quantity of its 

 albumen is greatly increased, and, moreover, from being the basic albu- 

 minate of soda, the form under which it ordinarily occurs in the blood, 

 it has become the neutral albuminate, as is proved by a turbid appear- 

 ance on the addition of water, and this state it seems to retain during 

 the portal circulation, for the blood of the hepatic veins exhibits the same 

 peculiarity. 



