222 Canadian Record of Science. 



among which they have been developed. But the lesson 

 Nature everywhere teaches is that things do work in 

 relation to each other. 



What a crude conception of life processes to suppose that 

 the capillaries pour out a fluid around the cells of the 

 tissues whose composition is not specially related to the 

 needs or peculiarities of each one ! 



But the facts we do know are opposed to such a view. 



All exudations or transudations are not alike in chemical 

 composition ; nor are passive exudations identical with 

 inflammatory ones. Can osmosis explain this ? Can it 

 explain why an inflammatory exudation does not corres- 

 pond with the normal tissue-lymph ? Can it give a reason 

 why there are coagulable proteids in lymph, or any of the 

 fluids that are derived from the blood at all ? While the 

 facts cannot be explained by osmosis, they are all simple 

 enough when we view the capillaries as glands — i.e., as 

 passing from the blood to the tissues, and the reverse, an 

 elaborated fluid which varies with the condition of the cells 

 composing the capillary and the tissue-cells that surround 

 it. That the condition of the blood can modify the capil- 

 laries, the latter the blood and the tissues both, is to my 

 mind clear enough. To put it otherwise : The tissue-cells 

 around a capillary, the capillary cells themselves, and the 

 blood are always in a sort of balanced relation. They 

 understand each other, so to speak, and act in harmony. 

 One cannot be disturbed without affecting the other. 



When a great derangement occurs, what we call inflam- 

 mation arises, and, sooner or later, all the parts of this 

 inseparable trio become involved. In inflammation we 

 have changes in the blood-cells, changes in the vessel-walls, 

 and changes in the surrounding tissue-cells. The embryo- 

 logical history should have led us to expect all this. 



When this relation of the capillaries as secreting mechan- 

 isms is understood, many of the difficulties that surround 

 " digestion " and " absorption " will be removed. Time 

 will not allow of my developing this part of the subject at 

 length now. In my opinion, there is no sharp line to be 



