180 
MISCELLANEA. 
The Buffy Coat of the Blood. 
The following conclusions are some of the results of a large 
number of experiments made on this subject by Mr. Gulliver: — - 
1. There is a remarkable acceleration, after a few minutes, of 
the rate with which the red corpuscles sink in the liquor san- 
guinis, and in the serum alone though to a less degree. 
2. This acceleration may be increased by increasing the aggre- 
gation of the corpuscles, and prevented or reversed by preventing 
or restoring the aggregation of the corpuscles. 
3. The sinking of the corpuscles may be slower in blood thinned 
by weak saline solutions, than when mucilage is added with the 
salt. 
4. The sinking of the corpuscles is slower in serum made thin- 
ner and lighter by weak saline solutions, than in serum made thicker 
and heavier by mucilage. 
5. In the blood of the horse the buffy coat forms regularly, and 
the red corpuscles unite, as if partly fused into each other, and 
collect into masses. 
6. There may.be no buffy coat, or but a comparatively thin one, 
on this blood when it has been made thinner and its coagulation 
retarded. 
7. The formation of the buffy coat is neither due to an attenu- 
ation of the liquor sanguinis nor to a diminution of its specific 
weight, nor to its slow coagulation, but to an aggregation and 
quickened sinking of the corpuscles. 
8. These facts are favourable to the old doctrine of viscidity of 
the blood and union of the corpuscles, and against the more recent 
doctrine of attenuation of the blood. 
9. The corpuscles of the horse sink much quicker in his serum 
than the corpuscles of man do in his. 
10. Increasing the proportion of corpuscles hastens coagulation 
and diminishes the formation of the buffy coat, more than in- 
creasing the serum only. 
11. Increasing the proportion of water simply does not hasten 
the coagulation of the blood, as increasing the proportion of serum 
does. 
ERRATA IN THE LAST NUMBER. 
At page 78, line 21, omit the word “as.” 
82 ... 32, /or “faeces,” read fever. 
83 ... 20, for “ if we want,” read if I want. 
