300 COLLOIDS IN BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE 



life it differs from what it is in death and pathological conditions. 

 Blood does not clot in a paraffined vessel because the paraffin is nega- 

 tively 1 charged. [The spontaneous and immediate development of 

 vasoconstrictor substances in shed blood have made necessary the 

 development of special technique " caval pockets " for the study of 

 the influence of the nerves on the adrenal glands. J. M. ROGOFF, 

 Journ. Lab. and Clin. Medicine, Vol. Ill, No. 4, Jan., 1918, p. 209 

 et seq. Tr.] He arrives at this view, because he regards clotted fibrin 

 as a complex which results from the combination of all the electro- 

 positive globulins of the blood with some of the negative ones. He 

 assumes that plasma contains two kinds of globulins, one of which 

 coagulates at 72 and the other at 55. 



At any rate it follows from what has been said that the determina- 

 tive factor in coagulation is a surface tension phenomenon which 

 offers a profitable field for more thorough study. It must not be 

 forgotten that the blood moistens the vessel walls, the intima, so 

 that it is not the mere moistening which is important. Injuries to 

 the intima may bring about local blood coagulation (thrombosis). 

 If such thrombi are dislodged into the vessels the resulting phenomena 

 are called embolism. It is well known that the chief danger of any 

 extensive surgical operation is the development of such emboli. 

 Air emboli are especially dangerous; they may occur from injuries 

 to the veins, or air may be injected during intravenous infusions. 

 Sometimes in air embolism, coagulation may occur at the interface 

 blood/air as I have been informed in a personal letter from Geheimrat 

 Prof. QUINCKE, the clinician. 



The serum is a solution of proteins in salt solution. We must at 

 present assume that these proteins are different, not only for every 

 animal, but even for every race. They consist chiefly of serum 

 albumin and serum globulin, which were described in Chapter X (see 

 also IscovEsco* 2 ). It is quite possible to remove a considerable 

 portion of the proteins from the blood without immediate destruc- 

 tion of the organism; as is well known, common salt infusions are 

 employed in severe hemorrhages, i.e., the blood that is lost is re- 

 placed by a 0.85 per cent salt solution. It would be impossible to 

 keep an organism alive permanently without serum. Aside from 

 the fact that nourishment would cease, the serum plays a most im- 

 portant role as " buffer" in order that the acid and alkali content of 

 the organism may be kept at a uniform level; it is of little impor- 

 tance, however, in maintaining the level of the water content. 



1 French authors frequently use a terminology the reverse of this; they call 

 whatever migrates to the anode electropositive, and vice versa. I have trans- 

 lated their mode of expression so as to conform with ours. 



