1881.] Blood Corpuscles to the Coagulation of the Blood. 417 



duct is tlie fibrinous body mentioned, not the slightest trace of a 

 globulin can be detected. 



In peptone plasma, paraglobnlin is present in large quantities, and 

 yet it is quite certain, as I shall mention later, that no breaking up of 

 white blood corpuscles has taken place. 



3. The generally received view, as to the course of events in the 

 normal coagulation of the blood, is as follows : — 



Very soon after leaving the body the white corpuscles die ; as a con- 

 sequence of this they break up, and thereby give rise to the ferment 

 and paraglobulin. 



The fibrinogen is pre- existent in the plasma. 



According to this view, then, the essential element in coagulation is 

 the death of the white blood corpuscles. 



The results of my experiments are totally opposed to this view. 

 They are shortly stated as follows : — 



The injection of a large quantity of dead lymph cells into the blood 

 of a living dog, both in its normal state and when it has been injected 

 with peptone, has no marked influence on the functions of the animal. 

 No sign whatever of emboli can be detected after the animal is dead. 



I give one example : — 



A dog was peptonised ; five minutes later a small quantity of blood 

 was removed and divided into two portions, to the one lymph cells 

 were added, it coagulated immediately, exactly like normal coagula- 

 tion. The other portion remained uncoagulated for hours. 



After the removal of this small test quantity of blood, a very large 

 quantity of dead lymph cells, suspended in \ per cent, solution of 

 common salt, were injected into the animal. The latter was appa- 

 rently quite unaffected by this. It was in the narcotic state always 

 produced by peptone, but it was able, in the course of three- quarters of 

 an hour, to walk about. ISTo coagula were found on post-mortem 

 examination. 



These facts are of great importance, for they show that coagulation 

 is the result of a change in the plasma, and has nothing to do with 

 the vital properties of the cells ; and they further fully confirm what I 

 have endeavoured clearly to bring out, that the conversion of the 

 white cells into fibrin is quite independent of the presence of any 

 " fibrinogen " substance. Fibrinogen is present in " living " plasma, 

 yet the dead cells produce no coagulation. Fibrinogen was absent 

 from the peptone plasma, which still gave practically unlimited quan- 

 tities of fibrin with lymph cells. 



Now, Alexander Schmidt has shown most distinctly that white blood 

 cells do unquestionably disappear as such during the normal coagula- 

 tion of the blood; and, in another communication I shall confirm 

 this in a most decided manner. I feel, therefore, justified, although I 

 have, at present, only fully worked out peptone plasma, in saying that 



