INFLAMMATION. 



153 



after the injury is inflicted because of tlieir slow movement 

 Iheir source is from tissue spaces, and thev are the preexi^t- 

 nig wandering connective tissue cells that occur in practically 

 r.Il tissues of the immature animal. They mav be phagocytic 

 Init this property is not usually well developed. They are es- 

 pecially active in the process of repair. 



Giant cells, so-called, are of common occurrence in some in- 

 flammatory processes especially tuberculosis and actinomvcnsis. 

 It is probable that endothelial cells are the progenitors of 

 giant cells. Some investigators have intimated that wandering 

 connective tissue cells may produce giant cells. The giant cells 

 may be formed either l)y a multipHcatinn of nuclei without divi- 



^m'lr^ 





-'iastiitis, huK, In.iu 



sion of the cell body fjr by a fusicin of several indepcndenl cells 

 (Syncytium). The latter view is the one most accepted at tlie 

 present time. The function of the giant cell has not been 

 specificallv determined, but those in tubercular lesions fre- 

 quently contain many tubercle bacilli indicating that the}^ are 

 phagocytic. 



Red blood corpuscles or erythrocytes occur in the inflam- 

 matory exudate as a result of intense engorgement of the ves- 

 sels. They begin passing through the vessel wall after tlie 

 leucocvtic migration. Increased intravascular pressure is the 

 principal cause of their escape from the vessel, their passage 

 through the vessel wall being entirely passive. 



