THE BLOODVESSELS IN INFLAMMATION. 155 
of the affected part indicates great accumulation of blood in the 
venous radicles,” due to diminution of vis a tergo. 
Dilatation of the small arteries cannot, under any circum- 
stances, be considered the first step to inflammatory congestion. 
The effect of the dilatation would only be acceleration of the 
flow of blood; and therefore dilatation of the small arteries must, 
Mr. Jones goes on to say, be viewed as the first step to re- 
action and resolution. As to the mode in which cold applied to 
one part of the body excites inflammation of a distant part, our 
author observes that the organ so affected is the weak organ of 
the body ; that, consequently, its small arteries are more irrita- 
ble and susceptible to impressions through the nervous system; 
being constricted, the flow of blood in the capillaries and venous 
radicles to which they lead, becomes sluggish, and there is ac- 
cumulation in them of red corpuscles. 
Constriction of the small arteries exists only at the com- 
mencement of the inflammatory process. When relaxation and 
dilatation of the arteries take place, the acceleration of the flow 
of blood in them may overcome the stagnation in the capillaries 
and venous radicles; but this failing to be accomplished, the 
greater quantity of blood poured into the vessels of the part 
must aggravate the inflammation. 
Briefly, in the vessels of an inflamed part in the frog, and 
highly probably in man, the quantity of red corpuscles of the 
blood is augmented and that of the plasma is diminished, at 
the same time that the latter is inspissated; the increase in the 
quantity of red corpuscles in the vessels of an inflamed part, 
and the diminution in the quantity of plasma, are owing to the 
red corpuscles being retained in the vessels while the plasma 
passes on. The inspissation of the plasma is owing to the 
abstraction of water from the blood of the part, and may be 
merely local. 
The cause of the increased accumulation of the white corpus- 
cles in the vessels of an inflamed part appears to be simply due, 
Mr. Jones thinks, to the fact, that they are in inflammation 
more disposed to adhere to the walls of the vessels, owing to 
the retardation in that process of the flow of blood, and the in- 
spissation of the plasma. 
Section 2 . — Exudation in Inflammation of a Part of the 
Human Body. — As, in the frog, exudation follows, and does 
not precede congestion and stagnation; after exudation, the red 
corpuscles become more closely aggregated, and the re-esta- 
blishment of the circulation, therefore, does not take place so 
readily as before. 
Section 3 . — State of the Blood and the Bloodvessels during 
the Healing Process in Man . — The edges of a wound, even 
