506 
COAGULATION OF THE BLOOD. 
third death was assigned to a similar cause ; and in April, 
1668, the parliament of Paris made it criminal to attempt 
transfusion, except with the consent of the faculty of Paris. 
Thus the whole thing fell into discredit, to be revived again in 
our own day, and to be placed at last on a scientific basis. — 
Blackwood'’ s Magazine. 
ON THE CAUSES OF COAGULATION OF THE BLOOD IN 
DISEASES OF THE BLOOD-YESSELS. 
By Joseph Lister, Esq., E.R.C.S. Eng. and Edin. 
( 1 Continued from p. 4A8.) 
“ We have seen that in two classes of the higher animals, 
differing from one another as widely as the carnivora and 
herbivora, and after modes of death so various as haemor- 
rhage, asphyxia, and an operation performed under chloro- 
form, the blood remains fluid in the vessels, though perfectly 
at rest, for days after death. It may appear almost incredible 
that a fact of such fundamental importance, and at the same 
time so easy of demonstration, should have escaped the ob- 
servation of all the eminent men who have made the coagu- 
lation of the blood a special subject of study; yet such 
appears to be the case. Dr. Richardson speaks of occasional 
instances of fluidity of the blood after death, and coagulation 
on exposure, but considers it quite essential for such an 
occurrence that the vascular system should not have been 
opened by wound, though it is difficult to see how such a 
circumstance could affect the question, according to his 
theory, except on the supposition that the blood-vessels were 
impermeable to gases in solution. Again, Dr. Davey, in his 
c Researches/ writes as follows : e The blood, after death, I 
have often found liquid, and that many hours after death, 
when cold, but still retaining its power of coagulating/ but 
he had no idea of fluidity and coagulability lasting for days 
after death, or even for hours, except in rare instances. The 
nearest approach which 1 have been able to find to such an 
observation is contained in that inexhaustible treasury of 
original observation and profound reflection, the works of 
John Hunter, where the following passages occur: ‘ As 
a proof that blood will not coagulate in living vessels, 
in a perfect and natural state, and ready to act when 
powers were restored to it, I found that the blood of a 
