90 ORGANISED FLUIDS. 



not merely the solid constituents of the blood, the white and 

 red corpuscles, but also its fluid elements, the fibrin and the 

 albumen ; the abnormal conditions of each of which principles 

 of the blood we shall find to be accompanied by a distinct 

 train of morbid phenomena. It may be said that the fibrin 

 and the albumen being entirely of a fluid nature, and not 

 holding solid particles of any magnitude in suspension, they 

 ought not to be considered in a work devoted to micro- 

 scopic anatomy. We shall find, however, that these several 

 constituents of the blood are so intimately associated that, in 

 order to understand any one of them fully, it is necessary 

 that we should possess a knowledge of the others also, and 

 therefore I consider that their discussion comes within the 

 legitimate scope of this work. 



For much of our knowledge of the pathology of the blood 

 we are indebted to the united researches of MM. Andral and 

 Gavarret, to whose valuable essay we shall have occasion 

 hereinafter to make frequent reference. 



Pathology of the Red Corpuscles of the Blood. 



The scale of the red corpuscles of the blood, relative to that 

 of the other elements, varies considerably, even in states of 

 health. The mean proportion of red corpuscles is estimated 

 by MM. Andral and Gavarret at 127 in every thousand parts 

 of the vital fluid. This scale may, however, be elevated to 

 140, or depressed to 110 ; the variations in the quantity of 

 the red globules within these limits being compatible, how- 

 ever, with a physiological or healthy condition of the blood, 

 although the higher scale, 140, is allied to a state of plethora, 

 while the lower, 110, borders upon the opposite state, of 

 anaemia, and both of which may be regarded, if not as dis- 

 eases in themselves, at least as powerful, auxiliary, and pre- 

 disposing causes of many morbid conditions of the system. 



