FATTY INriLTHATION. 67 



§ Go. All these predisposing causes come into operation 

 whenever the blood contains more than its usual proportion of 

 finely-divided fatty matter — whenever there is a fcttti/ dyscrasia. 

 We recognise the presence of this condition by a cloudy, opales- 

 cent, whitish state of the serum. Under the microscope we 

 may detect oily particles of considerable size ; or our examina- 

 tion may yield negative results even with very high powers., if 

 the emulsion is exceedingly fine. Such serum can always bo 

 cleared by shaking it with ether. If it is allowed to stand, the 

 oily matter collects on the top, forming a creamy layer. 



This serum lacteiim may always be found about three hours 

 after a meal ; and it is not to be wondered at that persons who 

 eat much rich food should get fatty matter infiltrated into their 

 connective tissue (obesity, polysarcia). Further, we know from 

 experience that fatty matters accumulate in the blood of drunkards 

 and persons suffering from pulmonary disease, in whom the fat 

 which is taken into the alimentary canal, and absorbed by the 

 l)lood, is not completely burned off. In either case the liver, is 

 the chief reservoir of the superfluous fat. We also meet with 

 FATTY METASTASES, diseases in which fat is absorbed from one 

 place to be deposited in another. Tubercular diseases of the 

 lungs are not infrequently associated with such metastases from 

 the panniculus adiposus to the liver. Since, however, in such 

 cases we may also assume defective oxidation as a cause, those 

 instances are of greater weight in which metastasis of fatty matter 

 constitutes the essence of the disease, or is associated with 

 disease of some organ other than the lung. I once met with a 

 phenomenon of this kind in a woman 27 years old, the fat 

 having been transferred from one place to another in the course 

 of. a sin Me fortnio-ht. 



