42 HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY. 



The odor of the blood is characteristic, and varies with the animal from 

 which it is drawn, due to the presence of caproic acid. 



The temperature of the blood ranges from 98 Fahr. at the surface to 

 107 Fahr. in the hepatic vein ; it loses heat by radiation and evaporation 

 as it approaches the extremities, and as it passes through the lungs. 



Blood consists of two portions : 



1. The Liquor Sanguinis or Plasma, a transparent, colorless fluid, in 

 which are floating 



2. Red and white corpuscles ; these constituting by weightless than one- 

 half, 40 per cent., of the entire amount of blood. 



COMPOSITION OF PLASMA. 



DALTON. 



Water 902.00 



Albumen 53. oo 



Paraglobulin , 22.00 



Fibrinogen 3.00 



Fatty matters 2.50 



Crystallizable nitrogenous matters 4.00 



Other organic matter 5.00 



Mineral salts 8.50 



Water acts as a solvent for the inorganic matters and holds in suspension 

 the corpuscular elements. 



Albumen is the nutritious principle of the blood ; it is absorbed by the 

 tissues to repair their waste and is transformed into the organic basis 

 charactertistic of each structure. 



Paraglobulin or Jibrinoplastin is a soft amorphous substance precipitated 

 by sodium chloride in excess, or by passing a stream of carbonic acid 

 through dilute serum. 



Fibrinogen can also be obtained by strongly diluting the serum and 

 passing carbonic acid through it for a long time, when it is precipitated as 

 a viscous deposit. 



Fatty matters exist in small proportion, except in pathological conditions 

 and after the ingestion of food rich in oleaginous matters ; it soon disap- 

 pears, undergoing oxidation, generating heat and force, or is deposited as 

 adipose tissue. 



Sugar is represented by glucose, a product of the digestion of saccharine 

 matter and starches in the alimentary canal ; glycogenic matter is derived 

 from the liver. 



The Saline constituents aid the process of osmosis, give alkalinity to the 



