100 ORGANISED FLUIDS. 



almost the reverse of those which distinguish it in fevers. 

 It is of moderate size, of firm texture, frequently cupped, and 

 its surface usually covered with the buffy coating of a 

 variable thickness. The theory of the formation of this 

 peculiar layer has already been entered into, and the various 

 circumstances under which it has been encountered have now 

 been noticed ; we have seen that it occurs in two very 

 different states of the system, that it is present on the clot of 

 blood abstracted in anaemic conditions, as well as on that 

 formed in blood withdrawn in inflammatory states ; in the 

 first of these there is, in comparison with the red corpuscles, 

 a relative increase in the proportion of the fibrin, and in the 

 second, a positive augmentation of that important element of 

 the blood. 



The fact of the existence of a superabundance of fibrin in 

 the blood in inflammatory states may be in some measure 

 inferred from the circumstance of the escape in inflammation 

 of a portion of its fibrin, and which doubtless is attended 

 with a certain degree of relief to the organ affected. In 

 many cases, however, it is not alone the fibrin which escapes, 

 and which is liable to become organized, but also the other 

 constituents of the blood, its red and white corpuscular ele- 

 ment, (the latter probably constituting the pus which in 

 certain severe cases is met with,) and the serum ; these con- 

 stituents, however, are not susceptible of organization, and are, 

 where recovery takes place, removed from the situation of 

 their effusion by absorption. 



The discovery of the fact, that in inflammatory disorders 

 an excess of fibrin is formed, explains the exact manner in 

 which blood-letting proves so serviceable, viz. by removing 

 from the system directly a portion of its superabundant 

 fibrin ; so powerful, however, is the cause which determines 

 the formation of this excess of fibrin, that in spite of the 

 most energetic and frequent use of the lancet, the scale of 

 that element of the blood will frequently, and indeed does 

 generally, ascend. 



