f; 



B L O 



able in fizy blood ; but much is alfo to b.- afcribi;d, in Uiis 

 bufinefs, to tiie ciicumftances connt£tcd with refpiratiou as 

 before mentio'.icd. 



This fizy blood being fo coiiftantly feen in pleunfy, pen- 

 pneumony, acute rheumatifm, and other inflammatory dif- 

 eafcs, it has been conlidcrcd as a proof of the exigence of 

 inflammatory adtion in all other cafes, wl-.ercin it h^s been 

 obfervcd ; and has accordingly been deemed by many prsc- 

 tilioncrs the bell and fureit tcft or index when vcnelec- 

 lion (hould be repeated or withheld, as alfo concerning 

 the quantity of blood which fhuuld be drawn at each ope- 

 ration. But this is a very wron.^' mude of proceednig. We 

 have fliewn that this appearance (the fize or buiTy coat of 

 the blood) is not reftridled to difordtrs belonging to the clafj 

 of phlegmafii, but that it occurs in oll.er iiitlances, where 

 the free and frequent employment of pidcbotomy would be 

 tifelefs, or even pernicious. Indeed, we liave often found 

 it neceffary to repeat the ufe of the lancet, where this ab- 

 earance of the blood has been wanting ; and to abllain 

 .rom a repetition of it, where it has been prcfent. la regu- 

 lating, therefore, the abllraiSion of blood, it is neceffary to 

 attend not only to the appearances of the blood, but more 

 cfpecially to the kind of inflammatory ac\ion, to tlie (late 

 of the pulfe and refpiratiou, to the degree and feat of the 

 pain, and to the age and conllitution of the patici:t. Fur- 

 ther, the term inflammatory blood, as being hablc to mif- 

 conception and abufc, fhould be difcontinued ; and the ex- 

 prefTion Jizy blood, or biuoil iv'uli a biijjy coat, fhould be em- 

 ployed in its place. But if the term htfameJ blvod be 

 improper, that of />a/r/</ Woc./is much more fo. This wss 

 never yet drawn from any living animal, man or brute. 

 Putridity is eafily known. The fmtU affords an obvious 

 left ; but the chemical products obtained from animal fub- 

 ftances in a ftate of putrefaftion, are the fureft tefts. Yet 

 thofe expert chemilts, Meffrs. Parmentier and Deyeux, 

 could trace no marks of putridity in the blood taken from 

 patients labouring under the worll forms of typhus, or what 

 are commonly called putrid fevers. Such blood did not 

 3'ield, by diilillation in a water bath, any volatile alkali ; 

 nor in a moderate temperature did it run into putrefaftion 

 fooner than the blood of a healthy perfon. The blood in 

 thefe cafeS; however, has its peculiar appearances ; which, 

 until we arrive at fomething mure certain in regard to the 

 caufe thereof, we fhould be content to call typhus-fever blood. 

 In like manner, the dark-coloured blood of fcorbutic pa- 

 tients (which fome afcribe to a deficiency of oxygen, and 

 we would add of albumen alfo,) we fhould be content to 

 call fcorbutic blood, until we have better data to proceed 

 ■upon. Again, it is conjeftured that the pale colour and dilute 

 quality of the blood, in chlorotic and dropfical patients, 

 may be owing to a deficiency of the colouring matter (iron) 

 of the blood, as well as an under-proportion of the fibrous 

 and albuminous matter. But we know not of any experi- 

 ments by which this has been demonllrated. Hence we 

 mull for the prefent be content to name fuch blood cblorot'ic 

 and hydropic Hood ; taking care at the fame time to have it 

 underftood, that in ufing thefe terms, it is by no means in- 

 tended to convey the idea, that Inch a Hate of the blood is 

 the caufe of chlorofis or dropfy, but merely the concomitant 

 of thofe diforders. Whoever wiflies to inveiligate the fub- 

 jeft of the morbid appearances of the blood more fully, 

 {hould confult the writings of Hewfon and John Hunter; 

 and for what relates to the chemical part of tlie inquiiy, 

 Fourcroy, 



Blood, Ufes of the, are either in the animal osconomy 

 (fee Blood fifra, and Lungs,), or in medicine, religion, 

 diet, arts, manufafturcs, &c, 



B L O 



Bloob, iitrchnmca! and comni£rchd ifes of the, are chiefly in 

 agriculture, where it is found an excellent manure for fruit- 

 trees ; among lapidaries ; in the manufadure of f.;gar, &c. ; 

 in building, boards are fometimes rubied with blood to 

 turn them brown. Some alfo pretend it has anciently bceil 

 ufed in the mortar of old Vi'alls. Blood is the bafis of 

 that noble colour called by painters Pnijlan B'lie. See 

 Pi;t;ssic Acid. 



Blood, eating of. This pratiicc appears to have been 

 prohibited to Noah (Gen. ix. 3. 4 ), which prohibition was 

 renewed by Mofes (Lev. xvii. 10 — 14.), and obferved by 

 the Jeu'S, principally with a view to the ufe of facrifices in 

 divine wor!hip, and as a token of refpecl: to the altar, at 

 which the blood of every viftim was prefented before God. 

 The prohibition was repeated by the apollles at the council 

 ofjerufalem ( Afts, xv. 2'8, 29.), confirmed and defended 

 by all the fiithers except St. Auguftin, and the univerfal 

 practice both of the callern and wcfiern churches till his 

 time ; and in many churches, even of the Well, mucli longer, 

 aslowasthe middle of the 10th, fome fay the nth and even 

 the 12th century. T!ie practice of the primitive Clirifliana 

 fccms to intimate that they undertlood the apoilolical pro- 

 hibition to be abfolute and perpetual, as they abftained from 

 the ufe of blood for many centuries. When they were 

 charged witli meeting in the night, and drinking blood, by 

 way of binding one another to fecrecy, in fome immoral 

 pvaftices, TertuIHan replies to this charge, tliat it was well 

 known that no CiiriRian would eat blood at all ; infomuch, 

 that it was ufual with heathens, when they wanted to know 

 whether any perfon was a Chrillian, to fet blood-puddings 

 before him as a very fufficient tell. Moreover, blood is not 

 eaten by Chrillians in any part of the Eall, or by the 

 Greeks, or Ruffians, who are of the Greek church, to this 

 day ; and it has been alleged, that the ufe of blood was not 

 introduced into this weftcrn part of the world till a very late 

 perio'l. When the Pomeranians were converted to Chrilli- 

 anity, in 11 20, they were particularly enjoined to abllain 

 from blood, as a badge of their profeffion It was not al- 

 lowed to be eaten in the Well in the time of Bede, or a cen- 

 tury afterwards ; and blood was not eaten in any part of 

 SwifT^-.rland, till Calvin introduced the praftice from fome 

 other place. Dr. Lardner, however, fays (ubi infra), that 

 Httle regard was paid to thefe regulations of the apoftohcal 

 decree by the Latin Chrillians, from the end of the fourth 

 century. 



The qucflion is, whether the apoilolical precept to ab- 

 ftain from blood, fhould beconfidered as only temporary' and 

 occafional, a iort of accommodation to the weaknefs of the 

 Jcwifh converts ; or perpetual, founded on moral principles, 

 and confequently Itill obligatory. The former opinion feems 

 the m.ore probable, and is the mofl generally received. For 

 the prohibition in the law of Mofes, two leafons have been 

 alTigned ; one is, that the blood was appointed to make 

 atonement on the altar for offence againfl the law. The pro- 

 hibition, according to this reafon of it, mult be reftri£led to 

 Jews and others circumcifed after the manner of Mofes ; for 

 no other perfons could offer facrifices, or be cut off for tranf- 

 greffing the Ltvitical laws, but fuch as were of that people. 

 The other reafon is thus expreffed : " It is the life of all 

 flefh ; the blood of it is for the life thereof" (Lev. xvii. 

 14.) i that is, as fome have interpreted the palTage, it is 

 the nourifhment of the animal, and not fit for your nourirn- 

 ment ; and becaufe it was not fit for food, and was ufelcfa 

 and offenfive, therefore it was to be poured out upon the 

 earth, or covered with dull, that is, buried in the earth j 

 and this order is frequently repeated. Lev. xvii. 13. Pent, 

 xii. i6^ 34, XV. 3J. Hence wc may account for the con- 



dua 



