290 CIRCULATING FLUIDS: 



diminution in the corpuscles : here we have just the reverse, 

 for the more frequently we analyse blood soon after the out- 

 break of the disease, the more frequently shall we find instances 

 in which the corpuscles, instead of being diminished, are consi- 

 derably increased, and, even in the more advanced stages, the 

 amount of the corpuscles is frequently found to exceed, or at 

 any rate to equal, the normal quantity. 



The absolute increase of the corpuscles is not, however, so 

 decided as the increase of the fibrin in inflammatory diseases ; 

 neither is it so essential a condition for the existence of the disease, 

 for even in those cases in which the amount is much increased 

 at the commencement of the disorder, it may become diminished 

 during its course, and even when it is getting more severe. 

 However, when the absolute quantity of the corpuscles is dimi- 

 nished, its proportion to the fibrin is still greater than is ever 

 observed in the normal state. 



The leading characteristic of the blood in this disease is the 

 decrease of the fibrin, which diminishes in proportion to the 

 violence of the attack, and from which another character is de- 

 rived, namely, the increased amount of corpuscles. During 

 the early period the diminution of the fibrin is not absolute ; it 

 is only relative in relation to the corpuscles ; but as the disease 

 approaches its height, the diminution becomes absolute. 



Researches instituted in mild cases may give perfectly nega- 

 tive results. 



Their maximum of fibrin was S7; their minimum "9. It is 

 true that in one case they found 4*2 of fibrin, but the blood was 

 taken during convalescence. 



The maxima, minima, and average results of 41 analyses are 

 given in the following table : 



This average of 11 analyses (I have omitted some, as giving 

 no definitively clear residt) does not give the general characters 

 of the blood, as it is expressed in the majority of the anabases. 

 The amount of fibrin is certainly less than in healthy blood, but 

 the corpuscles do not attain their normal height. If, however. 



