184 THE HEMORRHAGIC DIATHESIS 



first stage of a more prolonged process, just as the 

 very similar conversion of caseinogen in milk into 

 solid casein is only one step in the process of breaking 

 it down to simpler substances such as peptones and 

 aminoacids. 



The fibrin is not a permanent body. Even in 

 blood-clot kept at about 40° C, it undergoes partial 

 resolution into simpler and soluble substances, under 

 the influence of ferments already present in the clot, 

 called fihrinolysins. It is probable that these, as 

 well as leucocytes, play an important part in deter- 

 mining the resolution of fibrin collections in the 

 human body, such as may be found not only in 

 bruises and thromboses but also in the lymph-clot 

 which is the precursor of adhesions in the pleural 

 and peritoneal cavities. It is well known that these 

 adhesions may disappear spontaneously to a remark- 

 able degree. Any value which thiosinamine and its 

 derivative fibrolysin may have, given hypodermically 

 to absorb young fibrous tissue, may possibly be due 

 to the production of ferments such as these. 



HAEMOPHILIA. 

 Of all the many conditions in which the haemor- 

 rhagic diathesis is present, haemophilia is at once the 

 most interesting, the best understood, and the most 

 tragically dangerous. We will not stay to speak of 

 the curious problems of its inheritance, nor of the 

 well-knowTi tendency to bruising, joint effusions, and 

 bleeding after the most trivial injuries. One or two 

 of its peculiarities, however, deserve a word of 

 mention, as they may throw a light on the production 



