50 ORGANISED FLUIDS, 



Ancell*, have observed them in unusual quantities in in- 

 flammatory affections, and especially in such as are attended 

 with suppuration. Mr. Siddall and Mr. Gulliver have re- 

 peatedly observed them in vast numbers in the horse, especially 

 when this animal has been suffering from influenza. Donne 

 has likewise recognised their presence in increased quantities 

 in disease ; and Mr. Addison finds them to abound in the 

 hard and red bases of boils and pimples, and in the skin in 

 scarlatina and in most cutaneous affections. 



Several processes have been pointed out by which the 

 white globules may be separated from the red, and thus be 

 brought in a manner more satisfactory under view. 1st. 

 Acetic acid dissolves the red corpuscles, leaving the white 

 almost unchanged. 2nd. A drop of water floated gently 

 across a piece of glass, on which a small quantity of blood 

 has been placed, will remove the red corpuscles, the white 

 remaining adherent to the surface of the glass. This 

 ingenious method was, I believe, first indicated by Mandl. 

 3rd. The third process depends for its success upon the de- 

 fibrination of the blood by whipping, and which has already 

 been alluded to. If blood thus defibrinated be set aside for 

 a time, the red globules will subside to the bottom of the 

 containing vessel, forming one stratum, and the serum will 

 float upon the top, constituting a second layer; but between 

 these two layers a third exists ; this is very thin, and is 

 formed by the white globules, which may be reached after 

 the removal of the serum by means of a siphon, f Donne 

 points out this method in his excellent " Cours de Micro- 

 scopie." 4th. A fourth means of procuring the white globules 

 is described by Mr. Addison. If a portion of fluid fibrin be 

 removed from beneath the pellicle which is first formed over 

 the clot, it will be found to contain numerous white globules. 



* Lectures in the Lancet, 1839-40, vol. ii. p. 777. 



f The position occupied in this case by the white corpuscles shows that 

 they are of lighter specific gravity than the red, a reference to which fact 

 will also account for their presence, in such quantities, in the buffy coat of 

 the blood, and will likewise explain the reason why they first come into 

 focus when mixed with the red globules in a drop of water. 



