INFLAMMATION. 421 



division of the nucleoli and the nuclei of the endothelia followed. 

 In recent peritonitis he found large multinuclear bodies, which 

 greatly surpassed in size single endothelia, and in purulent peri- 

 tonitis a marked new formation of inflammatory corpuscles, aris- 

 ing from the endothelia and leading to the formation of pus- 

 corpuscles ; but, probably, not all of these corpuscles are offspring 

 of endothelia. Kundrat was the first to maintain that from the 

 endothelia of the peritoneum, in chronic, plastic peritonitis, con- 

 nective tissue arises, which leads to the formation of vegetations ; 

 and that this process takes place in two ways : either the endo- 

 thelia themselves become spindle-shaped, elongated, and trans- 

 formed into fibrillae, or uniformly nucleated protoplasmic layers, 

 sprung from the endothelia, become directly fibrillated. 



The inflammatory changes of the endothelia of Mood-vessels 

 were studied by Virchow, Waldeyer, Ranvier, Thiersch, Durante, 

 and others. Swelling of the endothelia, division of their nuclei, 

 and new formation of inflammatory corpuscles from endothelia, 

 have been proved to occur beyond any doubt. By some observers 

 a direct transformation of endothelia into connective tissue is 

 maintained. The occlusion of ligated vessels is mainly due to a' 

 proliferation of the innermost endothelia, and the vascularization 

 of the thrombus is proved to start in the inflamed intima, and to 

 proceed also from the adventitia and media. This is contrary to 

 the views of C. O. Weber, who held that the coagulated blood of 

 the thrombus itself becomes organized and vascularized. The 

 coagulation of the blood was found to be caused by the inflam- 

 mation of the endothelia. 



In the foregoing article on encephalitis, by Beyer, repeated 

 allusion is made to the inflammatory changes, both progressive 

 and regressive, that take place in the endothelia of capillaries. 

 From what I have observed, I can confidently state that the endo- 

 thelia of the capillaries participate in the inflammatory process 

 in a very active manner. In the earliest stages of inflammation 

 the endothelia become at first enlarged and coarsely granular, in 

 consequence of which the caliber of the vessel is considerably 

 narrowed. Next, the endothelia enter the juvenile stage of bio- 

 plasson by becoming homogeneous, and through their confluence 

 render the formerly hollow bioplasson a solid, homogeneous cord, 

 in which afterward a differentiation into medullary or inflamma- 

 tory corpuscles takes place. Such corpuscles may sometimes 

 spring directly from the capillary endothelia, without previous 

 solidification of the blood-vessel. The result is, that in acute inflam- 



