FIBRINOGEN. 253 



without any changes in the bone-marrow speak against the especially 

 great importance of the spleen and bone-marrow for the formation of 

 fibrinogen. That the liver takes part in the formation of fibrinogen 

 is implied by the fact that the quantity of fibrinogen in the blood 

 strongly diminishes after the extirpation of the liver (NOLF), and that 

 fibrinogen may indeed be entirely absent in the blood in phosphorus 

 poisoning (CoRiN and ANSIAUX, JACOB Y, DOYON, MOREL, and KAREFF x ), 

 and that the blood of the hepatic vein, according to DOYON, MOREL 

 and KAREFF, is richer in fibrinogen than the blood from other vessels, 

 and finally according to WHIFFLE and HuRWiTZ 2 in chloroform poison- 

 ing the fibrinogen content of the blood diminishes with the injury to 

 the liver and rises again with restitution of the organ. 



Fibrinogen has the general properties of the globulins, but differs 

 from other globulins as follows: In a moist condition it forms white 

 flakes which are soluble in dilute common salt solutions, and which 

 easily conglomerate into tough, elastic masses or lumps. The solution 

 in 5-10 per cent NaCl coagulates on heating at 52-55 C., and the faintly 

 alkaline or nearly neutral weak salt solution coagulates at 56 C., or at 

 exactly the same temperature at which the blood-plasma coagulates. 

 Fibrinogen solutions are precipitated by an equal volume of a saturated 

 common salt solution, and are completely precipitated by adding an excess 

 of NaCl in substance (thus differing from serglobulin). A salt-free 

 solution of fibrinogen in as little alkali as possible gives with CaCb 

 a precipitate which contains calcium and soon becomes insoluble. In 

 the presence of NaCl or by the addition of an excess of CaCk the precipitate 

 does not appear. 3 A neutral solution of fibrinogen is precipitated by 

 a concentrated solution of sodium fluoride when added in a sufficient quan- 

 tity. Fibrinogens from different kinds of blood behave somewhat dif- 

 ferently in this regard. According to HUISKAMP 4 fibrinogen from horse- 

 blood hardly dissolves in NaCl of 3-5 per cent at ordinary temperatures, 

 while it does dissolve at 40-45. It also dissolves in ammonia of 0.05 



1 P. Miiller, Hofmeister's Beitrage, 6; Mathews, Amer. Journ. of Physiol., 3; Nolf, 

 Bull. Acad., Roy. Belg., 1905, and Arch, intern, de Physiol., 3, 1905; Langstein, and 

 Mayer, Hofmeister's Beitrage, 5; Morawitz and Rehn, Arch. f. exp. Path. u. Pharm., 

 58; Corin and Ansiaux, Maly's Jahresber., 24; Jacoby, Zeitschr. f. physiol. Chem., 

 30; Doyon, Morel and Kareff, Compt. Rend., 140; Doyon, Morel, and Peju, Comp. 

 rend. soc. biolog., 58; Doyon, Cl. Gautier, and Morel ibid., 62; Doyon, Gautier 

 and Mawas, ibid., 64. 



2 Doyon, Morel and Kareff, Journ. de Physiol., 8 (1906); Whipple and Hurwitz, 

 Journ. of exp. Med. 13. See also Meek, Amer. Journ. of Physiol., 30. 



3 See Hammarsten, Zeitschr. f. physiol. Chem., 22; Cramer, ibid., 23. 



4 Huiskamp, ibid., 44 and 46. In regard to fibrinogen the reader is referred to 

 the author's investigations. Pfliiger's Archiv., 19 and 22, and Zeitschr. f. physiol. 

 Chem., 28. 



