152 



THE FLUIDS. 



Seen under the microscope, while circulating, the blood consists 

 (1) of a fluid portion the liquor sanguinis containing ('2) histo- 

 logical elements of two kinds, viz., the white and the red corpuscles. 

 Of 1,000 parts of blood, 510 to 520 are corpuscles, and from 490 to 

 480 are liquor sanguinis. 



1. The Liquor Sanguinis. 



The fluid portion of the blood, called the liquor sanguinis, blood- 

 plasma, and the intercellular fluid (Lehmann}, consists of the serum 

 already mentioned and the fibrine. Its specific gravity varies but 

 little from 1028. It contains all the elements necessary for the de- 

 velopment of the tissues, viz., those of the first class, fat, and the 

 albuminous compounds of the third class. It also contains many 

 of the principles of the second class resulting from the metamor- 

 phosis or dis-assimilation of the tissues, as urea, creatine, &c. It 

 may, indeed, be regarded as a solution, in 903 parts of water, of 97 

 parts of the principles just mentioned ; for, though not all of the 

 latter are directly soluble in water, it has been shown that all are 

 actually in solution in the blood (pp. 55 and 48). 



The following is an analysis of 1*000 parts of liquor sanguinis, 

 by Lehmann, the specific gravity being 1028 : 



Water . 

 Solid constituents 



Fibrine . v '. 



Albumen , . 



Fat 



Extractive matters 



902.90 

 97.10 



4.05 



78.84 to 98. 

 1.72 

 3.94 



Mineral Substances (8.55). 



Chlorine . * V ' . 

 Sulphuric acid . - > i ; 

 Phosphoric acid ; ; 

 Potassium . /-*.'. 

 Sodium . 

 Oxygen .. ! . 

 Phosphate of lime . 

 Phosphate of magnesia 



3.644 

 0.115 

 0.191 

 0.323 

 3.341 

 0.403 

 0.311 

 0.222 J 



8.55. 



The fibrine constitutes 4.05 in 1,000 of the plasma alone, and from 

 2 to 2.2 (about 3 Lehmann) in 1,000 of the whole blood. Arterial 



