1 40 Mr. Home’s further Experiments 
ever, is prevented from taking place by the blood not flowing 
readily from the vein. 
From the experiments on the spleen contained in this, and 
the foregoing Paper, the following facts appear to have been 
ascertained. 
That the spleen is met with in two very different states, 
one which may be termed the distended, the other the con- 
tracted, and that in the one its size is double what it is in the 
other. In the distended state there is a distinct appearance of 
cells containing a limpid fluid, distinguishable by the naked 
eye ; in the contracted, these only become distinct when seen 
through a magnifying glass. The distended state takes place 
when the stomach has received unusual quantities of liquids 
before the animal’s death ; and the contracted state, wdien 
the animal has been kept several days without any drink be- 
fore the spleen is examined. 
That the trunk of the splenic vein (of the hog) is more 
than five times the size of the trunk of the splenic artery. 
That when the pylorus is secured, coloured liquids pass 
from the cardiac portion of the stomach into the circulation of 
the blood, and go off by the urine ; and w T hile this is going on, 
the spleen is in its most distended state, and the colouring 
matter is found in its juices, although it is not to be detected 
in those of the liver. The colouring matter cannot therefore 
be conveyed to the spleen through the common absorbents 
of the stomach, which lead to the thoracic duct. 
That when the pylorus is open, the colouring matter under 
the circumstances abovementioned is equally detected in the 
spleen. 
That when the spleen is in this state, the blood in the splenic 
