62 Dr. Beale^ on the Germinal Matter of the Blood, 
presents inequalities and irregularities which, do not exist in 
the living vessels. 
T cannot accept,, as an explanation of a process^ any 
subtle mysterious agency" of inanimate ordinary solids ; 
nor do I admit that, in inflammation tissues^ have lost 
their " vital properties." On the other hand^ growth and those 
phenomena which may be fairly termed vital/' occur with 
increased activity in tissues in a state of inflammation. 
Prof. Lister says that a tissue acts so-and-so when deprived 
of its " vital properties/' and defines these vital pro- 
perties" as properties peculiar to the tissues^ as components 
of the healthy living body." Prof. Lister has not distinguished 
between physical and vital properties. The explanation off*ered 
involves the acceptance of forces, actions, and properties on 
the part of tissues which they have not been proved to pos- 
sess, and I think we ought not to be called upon to admit 
these mysterious agencies unless strong reasons are advanced. 
Prof. Lister's experiments do not show that foreign solids 
have an attraction for fibrin. He assumes that inanimate 
matter, like glass or china, &c., possesses an active power 
of attracting matter towards it and causing a change in a 
state of matter at a distance from it. The "attractive 
agency" is not proved. Prof. Lister, it seems to me, has 
not distinguished the mere physical alterations which may 
be shown to occur in an inflamed tissue as compared with 
a healthy vessel, and yet he assumes the existence of changes 
in vital properties of the tissue; nor has he shown that 
tissue exhibits vital 2^roperties. No one has, I think, yet 
shown that any living tissue acts upon the vital properties 
of living matter at a distance from it. Prof. Lister, however, 
assumes not only that ordinary matter exerts an '^active 
influence'' in promoting coagulation, but that this influence 
may be exerted through other bodies. The agency of the 
ordinary solid leads the corpuscles to communicate to the 
liquor sanguinis before they subside, a material, or at least an 
influence which confers upon it a disposition to coagulate." 
It should, however, be clearly stated that Prof. Lister and 
I have studied the question from very diff'erent points of view, 
and although I cannot accept without further explanation 
the general conclusions he has arrived at, it is very possible 
that I may be unduly influenced by the method of study I 
have followed. 
I have also been unable to accept the conclusions arrived 
at by Prof. Lister upon the important subject of inflamma- 
tion. His views are peculiar, and I am surprised that his 
inferences have not excited the attention in this country which 
