274 Dr. Davy’s observations on the 
the ordinary adhesions of the lungs ; and in a very few hours 
attain their maximum of strength. 
This viscidity, which coagulable lymph acquires in passing 
from a liquid to a solid form, has not, that I am aware, been 
noticed by authors ; and the formation of adhesions is usu- 
ally explained without reference to this quality.* 
Though I believe the common opinion to be untenable, that 
the age of adhesions can be decided by their strength, it is 
far from my intention to maintain that they do not become 
firmer in progress of time, or that their duration mav not 
occasionally be conjectured from their appearance and re- 
sistance. 
3. It is believed by many, that the small portions of serous 
fluid which are found after death in the cavities of serous 
membranes, especially in the pericardium and the ventricles 
of the brain, may have been poured out after the cessation of 
life.-f I am not aware that this opinion is other than hypo- 
thetical, or that it is supported by any precise facts. As a 
theoretical conclusion its correctness seems doubtful. I have 
endeavoured to put it to the test of experiment, and the re- 
sult has not been favourable to it. I have notes of three dif- 
ferent experiments on dogs, which were made in Ceylon in 
1818, all which seem to show that, under ordinary circum- 
stances, no effusion of serum, or exudation so as to occasion 
accumulation, takes place after death. The experiments were 
briefly the following. In each instance, a healthy dog was 
* Vide cc The Morbid Anatomy of some of the most important Parts of the 
Human Body, by Matthew Baillie, M, D. F. R. S. See.” 5th edit. p. 6. 
f Sauv ages’ Nosologia Method. Ephialtes ex Hydrocephalo. 
Cours d’Anatomie Medicale, par Antoine Portal, tom. IV. p. 54. 8vo. Paris, 
1803. 
