THE BLOOD. Ill 



3. That in plethora there is an augmentation of the 

 quantity of the mass of the blood. 



4. That the influence of disease upon the composition of 

 the blood is to occasion from the commencement a diminu- 

 tion in the proportion of the globules, and this diminution 

 continuing during the progress of the malady, ends in the 

 production of the ansemic condition of the system. 



5. That there is an absolute excess of fibrin in many cases 

 of chlorosis and of pregnancy, and that its diminution is far 

 less constant than has been considered in fevers. 



6. That the albumen of the blood diminishes under the 

 influence of illness ; that it is more considerable in inflamma- 

 tions ; and further, that the diminution is in direct relation 

 with the augmented amount of fibrin, which it may be 

 presumed is formed at the expense of the albumen; that 

 there is not only a very great diminution of albumen in the 

 malady of Bright, but also in certain affections of the heart, 

 accompanied by dropsy, and in certain severe forms of puer- 

 peral fever. 



7. That the amount of cholesterine and of acid fats in- 

 creases as we advance in age ; but that this increase is not 

 felt until from the fortieth to the fiftieth year ; that it is also 

 found in augmented quantities in the blood in constipated 

 states of the system, and in jaundice, with retention of the 

 bile and decoloration of the fasces. * 



The Blood in the Menstrual Fluid. 



The menstrual fluid contains all the elements of the blood, 

 especially the red and white corpuscles, and it is therefore in 

 the same manner as the blood itself susceptible of circulation. 

 In addition to the constituents of the blood, we find the 

 uterine discharge to be composed of vaginal mucus, mixed up 

 with numerous epithetral scales, which it has acquired in its 

 passage along the vagina. 



* The above remarks are abbreviated from an abstract of MM. Bequerel 

 and Rodier's work on the blood, by MM. Millor and Reiset, contained 

 in the " Annuaire de Chimie," for 1846. 



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