74 PATHOLOGY. 



the crassamentiim or clot is soft, consisting of a few fibres on 

 the surface. These soon extend throughout the mass, which is 

 now called cruor. In the horse coagulation takes place hut 

 slowly, and the red corpuscles consequently sink ; the upper 

 surface, being thus deprived of their colour, assumes a straw- 

 coloured appearance, and is called the buffy coat. Although the 

 whole mass solidifies, the fibrin is only present in quantity of 

 about 3 in 1000. 



MM. Andral and Gavarret record that in the domestic animals 

 the fibrin diminishes before but increases after parturition. In 

 the human female, however, it seems that the fibrin is decreased 

 during the first six months of pregnancy — the average being 2 3 ; 

 whilst in the last three months it is so increased as to average 4. 

 Fibrin is more abundantly formed in arterial than in venous 

 blood ; and it is mentioned by Schmidt that the blood of the 

 portal vein contains only one-third of the ordinary amount of 

 fibrin found in the blood of the jugular vein. 



An excess of the fibrin — hyperplasma or hyperinosis — exists 

 in all true inflammations. In acute rheumatism it is generally 

 very high ; in some cases, according to MM. Andral and 

 Gavarret, as high as 12 parts in the 1000. In some exhausting 

 diseases, and even in anoemia, the fibrin is found occasionally 

 increased in quantity. In rapid emaciation, more especially 

 when accompanied by total loss of appetite, the quantity of 

 fibrin is very materially increased. This is explained by 

 the fact that fibrin results from the metamorphosis of the 

 albumen of the blood and of the tissues. An increase of fibrin 

 is found in meagre, half-starved horses, amounting to 7 or 8 

 above the healthy mean. In one case, where no food was given 

 for four days, it was found increased from 5 to 9. As the fibrin is 

 increased by all inflammatory diseases, such increase can also be 

 artificially induced by the application of external irritants, such 

 as blisters, setons, or the actual or potential cauteries. This fact 

 is of great importance therapeutically, and it should be borne in 

 mind that the application of the so-called counter-irritants in 

 extensive inflammatory diseases, tends to increase a condition of 

 the blood which is already present to an abnormal extent. 



Another very important circumstance connected with the 

 increase of fibrin in the blood is pointed out by Andral, namely, 

 that the effect of bleeding was not to diminish it. In M. Andral's 

 experiments the red globules became diminished in number by 



