BLOOD. 191 



alcohol of -925 until tlie spirit ceases to take up any addi- 

 tional colouring matter, and the powder Avhich remains has a 

 dirty-gray or gray-green colour. This must be thoroughly 

 dried, and estimated as fibrin and albumen. The reddened 

 alcoholic solution, a, is set aside for further operation. 



Another portion of the clot must be weighed and placed in 

 a porcelain mortar, which should be pro\dded with a pestle of 

 such a size as exactly to fill it. Moreover, the edge of the 

 mortar should be about one thii'd of an inch above the head of 

 the pestle. By this arrangement none of the clot can be lost. 

 It must be reduced to a fine pulp, which must be treated with 

 water until the flocciili of fibrin become perfectly white : these 

 must be carefully collected and dried. 



By the subtraction of the weight of the fibrin from that of 

 the former residue, Ave obtain the weight of the albumen. 



Before analysing the serum, it must be well shaken in order 

 to render its constitution uniform; a portion must then be 

 weighed, coagulated at a boiling heat, thoroughly dried, again 

 weighed, and the proportion of water thus estimated. The dried 

 residue must be finely pulverized, the fat removed by ether, 

 and it must be then boiled with alcohol of -925 until everything 

 which is soluble in that fluid has been taken up. 



The residue consists of albumen, which must be dried and 

 weighed. The alcoholic solution must be added to the solution 

 A, and these mixed fluids analysed for the globulin, hsematin, 

 haemaphsein, extractive matters and salts, in exactly the same 

 manner as described in page 175. 



ON THE HEALTHY BLOOD IN RELATION TO PHYSIOLOGY. 



[From my own analyses.) 



It is almost unnecessary to observe that the blood of one 

 and the same indiATidual may vary in its constitution at dif- 

 ferent times, and under diff'erent circumstances. We shall 

 proceed to investigate the causes upon which these variations 

 depend. 



Amongst the most obvious causes we may jjlace the proper 

 supply, or the absence of sufficient nutrition. 



The blood will clearly abound in water, in proportion to the 

 quantity of fluid with which it is supplied; it will abound in 



