]VIE.  J.  LISTEE  ON  THE  EAELT  STAGES  OE  INELAMMATION. 
G47 
there  will  result,  in  proportion  to  the  elevation  of  the  temperature  and  the  duration  of 
its  action,  undue  redness  of  the  vessels  from  accumulation  of  the  blood-corpuscles ; and 
if  the  burn  have  been  sulRciently  severe,  vesication  will  soon  take  place  as  in  the  human 
subject.  These  and  other  similar  cases  indicate  that  the  early  stages  of  inflammation 
are  alike  in  man  and  in  the  frog,  and  this  conclusion  is  fully  confirmed  by  examination 
of  the  bat’s  wing,  which  furnishes  the  means  of  watching  the  effects  of  irritants  upon 
mammalian  circulation.  The  very  small  size  of  the  blood-corpuscles,  and  some  other 
circumstances,  render  that  animal  much  less  suitable  for  the  investigation  than  the  frog  ; 
but  with  the  use  of  high  powers  of  the  microscope  and  a little  pains,  the  same  sort  of 
experiments  can  be  made  with  both : and  the  careful  observations  of  Messrs.  Paget  and 
Whaetok"  Jones,  and,  I may  add,  also  my  own  more  limited  experience  with  the  bat, 
have  shown  that  in  all  the  details  that  can  be  observed,  a complete  similarity  obtains 
between  the  effects  of  irritation  upon  the  circulation  in  the  two  creatures.  We  may 
therefore  rest  fully  satisfied  that  conclusions  arrived  at  from  the  study  of  the  early 
stages  of  mflammation  in  the  foot  of  the  fi'og  will  apply  in  all  strictness  to  the  same 
morbid  process  in  man. 
It  is  well  known  that  the  field  of  observation  thus  afforded  has  not  been  allowed  to 
remain  uncultivated.  Since  the  microscope  has  been  brought  to  its  present  state  of 
perfection,  not  to  speak  of  a previous  period,  men  of  established  scientific  reputation 
have  devoted  much  patient  labour  to  it ; and  any  one  who  now  enters  upon  this  inquiry 
has  the  great  advantage  of  possessing  faithful  records  of  accurate  observations  made  by 
many  able  predecessors.  But  the  number  and  discordance  of  the  views  entertained  by 
different  authorities  regarding  the  cause  of  the  “stasis”  of  the  blood  in  inflammation, 
are  sufficient  evidence  either  that  the  subject  demands  further  investigation,  or  else  that 
it  lies  beyond  the  reach  of  human  means  of  research. 
Having  been  called  upon  in  the  capacity  of  a teacher  of  surgery  to  attempt  an  expla- 
nation of  the  matter  to  others,  I felt  bound  to  do  my  best,  by  personal  observation,  to 
form  a judgement  for  myself;  and  several  new  facts  which  I have  unexpectedly  met  with 
appear  to  throw  such  fresh  and  clear  light  upon  the  nature  of  disease,  that  I venture  to 
submit  them  to  the  Koyal  Society. 
SECTION  I. 
On  the  Aggregation  of  the  Corpuscles  of  the  Blood. 
The  tendency  of  the  corpuscles  of  the  blood  to  aggregate  together,  constitutes,  as  we 
shall  see,  an  important  element  in  the  cause  of  the  obstruction  which  they  experience 
m the  vessels  of  an  inflamed  part.  It  is  therefore  desirable  that  we  should  be 
acquamted  with  the  nature  of  the  phenomenon. 
If  a drop  of  human  blood  just  shed  is  placed  between  two  plates  of  glass  and 
examined  with  the  microscope,  the  red  corpuscles  are  seen  to  become  applied  to  one 
another  by  their  flat  surfaces,  so  as  to  form  long  cylindrical  masses  like  piles  of  money, 
as  first  observed  in  1827  by  my  father  and  Dr.  Hodgkin;  and  the  terminal  corpuscles  of 
MDCCCLVIII.  4 Q 
