300 ABSORPTION AND SANGUIFICATION. 



of viscidity having been experimentally found to be favourable to the 

 movement of fluid through glass or metallic tubes of small bore. The 

 Albumen of the blood is the raw material, at the expense of which not 

 only the Fibrine, but many other substances are generated during the 

 nutritive process. All the Albuminous compounds of the Secretions, 

 the Horny matter of the Epidermic tissues, the Gelatine of the simple 

 fibrous tissues, the solid materials of the Red Corpuscles, and other sub- 

 stances, may be regarded as almost certainly produced by the transfor- 

 mation of the Albumen of the Blood : and a continual supply of this 

 from the food is therefore requisite, to preserve the due proportion in 

 the circulating fluid. The Red Corpuscles, which (it will be remembered) 

 are almost exclusively confined to Vertebrated animals, appear to be 

 more connected with the function of Respiration, than with that of 

 Nutrition ; and the stimulating action of Arterial blood, especially upon 

 the Muscular and Nervous tissues, appears chiefly to depend upon their 

 presence. It has been observed in particular, that their presence is 

 more effectual in stimulating the heart's action, than is that of either 

 of the other constituents of the blood. In addition to what has been 

 already stated ( 219), in reference to their continual disintegration and 

 renewal, it may be mentioned, that when the blood of one animal was 

 injected by Magendie into the veins of another having discs of very 

 different size and form, -the original Red Corpuscles soon disappeared, 

 and were replaced by those characteristic of the species, in whose veins 

 the fluid was circulating. 



530. The use of the Saline matter is .evidently in part to prevent de- 

 composition in the circulating Blood ; but also to supply the mineral 

 materials, requisite for the generation of the tissues, arid entering into 

 the composition of the secretions. It is by the saline and albuminous 

 matters in conjunction, that the specific gravity of the Liquor Sanguinis 

 is kept up to the point, at which it is equivalent to that of the contents 

 of the Red Corpuscles ; and it is only in this condition, that the forma- 

 tion of the latter can duly take place. The Fatty matters of the blood 

 are evidently derived from the food, either directly, or by a transforma- 

 tion of its farinaceous ingredients ( 430) ; and they are chiefly appro- 

 priated to the maintenance of the combustive process. But there is 

 reason to believe, that Oleaginous matter performs a most important 

 part in the incipient stages of Animal nutrition ; and that its presence 

 is not less essential to the formation of cells, than is that of the albumi- 

 nous matter which forms their chief component, all nuclei being observed 

 to include fatty particles. That which may be superfluous is either de- 

 posited in the cells of Adipose Tissue, or it is eliminated by the Liver, 

 the Sebaceous follicles of the Skin, and, in the female when nursing, by 

 the Mammary glands. 



531. The proportion of these components of the Blood is liable to 

 undergo changes in disease, which extend far beyond the widest limits 

 which have been mentioned as consistent with health. Thus, the 

 quantity of Fibrine exhibits a remarkable increase in Inflammation ; the 

 amount then found in the blood being from 5 or 6 parts in 1000 to 9, 

 10, or even 10J, according to the extent and intensity of the disease. 

 On the other hand, it presents a remarkable diminution in Typhoid 



