FIBRINE REGARDED AS A LOCAL PRODUCTION. 195 



of it, and that in a higher degree, the greater the disturb- 

 ance under which the respiration labours ; or, in addi- 

 tion to the ordinary, quickly coagulating matter, a second 

 which coagulates more slowly is found. It frequently 

 happens, namely, that two sorts of coagulation subsist 

 side by side in the same blood, one early and the other 

 late, especially in the cases in which direct analysis shows 

 an increase of fibrine, a hyperinosis. These hyperinotic 

 conditions appear therefore to indicate that in them an 

 increased supply of lymphatic fluid is introduced into the 

 blood, and that the matters which are afterwards found 

 in the blood are not the products of an internal transfor- 

 mation of its constituents, and that therefore the ori- 

 ginal source of the fibrine must not be sought for in the 

 blood itself, but in those parts from which the lymphatic 

 vessels convey the increased supply of fibrine. 



In explanation of these phenomena, I have ventured to 

 advance the hypothesis, somewhat bold perhaps, though 

 I consider it perfectly able to sustain discussion, namely, 

 that fibrine generally, wherever it occurs in the body exter- 

 nal to the blood, is not to be regarded as an excretion from 

 the blood, but as a local production ; and I have endea- 

 vored to introduce an important change in the views en- 

 tertained with regard to the so-called phlogistic crasis in 

 relation to its localization. Whilst it had previously been 

 the custom to regard the altered composition of the blood 

 in inflammation as a condition existing from the very 

 outset, and especially denoted by a primary increase in 

 the fibrine, I on the contrary have shown the crasis to 

 be an occurrence dependent upon the local inflammation. 

 Certain organs and tissues have inherent in them in a 

 higher degree the power of producing fibrine and of fa- 

 vouring the occurrence of large quantities of fibrine in 

 the blood, whilst other organs are by far less adapted 

 for its production. 



