146 
EARLY STAGES OF INFLAMMATION. 
also in the sub-maxillary, is red owing to the same cause — to 
the removal from the blood of a portion of its watery ele- 
ment by the process of secretion ; that in the kidney this 
removal is continuous, whereas in the sub-maxillary gland it 
is intermittent and variable. 
ON THE EARLY STAGES OE INFLAMMATION. 
By Joseph Lister, E.R.C.S., Eng. and Edin. 
In this communication, the author gives an account of an 
investigation, with which he has been recently occupied, 
into the process of inflammation in the frog’s foot. The 
paper is divided into four sections, with an introduction and 
conclusion. 
In the introduction it is observed, that “ so far from our 
knowledge of inflammation being in a satisfactory condition, 
authorities are at variance upon the fundamental question 
whether it is to be regarded, in accordance with John 
Hunter’s opinion, as active in its nature, and consisting in 
an exaltation of the functions of the affected part, or whether 
it should not rather be considered a passive result of dimi- 
nished functional activity. ... In seeking for the solu- 
tion of this great problem, we cannot expect to gain much 
from the contemplation of the more advanced stages of 
inflammation. . . . It is upon the first deviations from 
health that the essential character of the morbid state will 
be most unequivocally stamped ; and it is therefore to the 
early stages of inflammation that our attention must be 
chiefly directed.” 
Some cases are then mentioned to show that “ in the 
early stages of inflammation in the human subject, whether 
induced by mechanical irritation or by an acrid application 
such as mustard, or of spontaneous origin, the minute 
vessels become abnormally loaded with red blood, the cor- 
puscles of which ultimately become to a greater or less 
extent arrested prior to the occurrence of the effusion.” 
It is afterwards shown, from numerous facts, that ec con- 
clusions arrived at from the study of the early stages of 
inflammation in the foot of the frog will apply in all strict- 
ness to the same morbid process in man.” 
The remainder of the introduction is occupied with a 
sketch of the principal theories which have been proposed to 
