FIBRINE OF LYMPH. 193 



mass pervaded by a coagulum, as is often enough the 

 case with fluids from the abdominal cavity. After I had 

 removed this coagulum from the liquid by stirring it, in 

 order to convince myself of its identity with ordinary 

 fibrine, the next day a fresh coagulum displayed itself, 

 and this took place also on the following days. This co 

 agulative power lasted fourteen days, although the ope- 

 ration had been performed in the midst of the heat of 

 summer. This therefore was a phenomenon essentially 

 differing from the ordinary coagulation of the blood, and 

 somewhat difficult to explain upon the supposition that 

 real fibrine existed completely developed in the fluid, 

 but it seemed to indicate that it was only under the influ- 

 ence of the atmospheric air that the fibrine was produced 

 from a substance which must indeed have been nearly 

 related to fibrine, but yet could not be real fibrine. I 

 therefore propose to give it the distinctive name of^bri'- 

 nogenous substance, and when I afterwards had come to 

 the conclusion that it was the same substance which we 

 find in lymph, I was enabled to extend my view so as to 

 include the proposition, that. in lymph also fibrine is not 

 contained in a perfect form. 



This same substance, which is distinguished from ordi- 

 nary fibrine by its requiring to be a longer or shorter 

 time in contact with atmospheric air before it can become 

 coagulable, is also found under certain circumstances in 

 the blood of the peripheral veins, so that even by an 

 ordinary venaesection performed on the arm blood may 

 be obtained, distinguished from ordinary blood by the 

 slowness of its coagulation. Polli named this coagula- 

 tive substance brady-fibrine. Such cases occur especially 

 in inflammatory diseases of the respiratory organs, and 

 most frequently give rise to the formation of a buffy coat 

 (crusta pleuritica, crusta phlogistica). You all know that 

 the ordinary crusta phlogistica forms in the blood of 



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