ME.  J.  LISTEE  ON  THE  EAELT  STAGES  OF  INFLAMMATION. 
673 
It  is  an  interesting  question,  whether  the  freedom  of  the  corpuscles  from  adhesiveness 
in  health  is  due  to  some  active  operation  of  the  tissues  upon  the  vital  fluid,  or  whether 
then’  adhesiveness  in  an  inflamed  part  or  outside  the  body  is  the  result  of  a prejudicial 
influence  exerted  upon  the  blood  by  the  irritated  tissues,  or  by  the  objects  of  the 
external  world  with  which  it  comes  in  contact  when  shed.  The  fact  that  the  non- 
adhesiveness of  the  corpuscles  within  the  vessels  continues  in  an  amputated  limb, 
shows  that  it  is  independent  of  the  central  organs  of  the  nervous  system,  and  probably 
too  of  any  nutritive  actions  going  on  in  the  tissues.  Also,  if  the  latter  were  concerned 
in  its  production,  we  should  expect  to  find  the  corpuscles  adhesive  in  the  large  arteries 
and  veins  of  the  webs,  since  it  is  doubtless  chiefly  in  the  capillaries  that  the  mutual 
interchanges  take  place  between  the  blood  and  the  solid  elements  of  the  body.  It  may 
be  difficult  to  obtain  further  evidence  upon  this  point,  but  some  light  may  be  thrown 
upon  it  by  the  consideration  of  the  causes  of  the  coagulation  of  the  blood,  which  seems 
to  be  a closely  allied  subject. 
I have  shown  elsewhere  *,  that  in  mammalia,  as  well  as  in  amphibia,  the  blood  remains 
fluid  for  days  in  the  veins  of  an  amputated  healthy  limb,  though  retaining  its  property 
of  coagulating  when  shedf.  Its  fluidity  within  the  vessels  is  unaffected  by  free  admix- 
tm'e  of  the  atmosphere  with  it.  For  example,  seven  hours  after  injecting  air  into  the 
veins  of  an  amputated  sheep’s  foot,  I found  the  frothy  mixture  contained  in  the  vessels 
still  quite  fluid ; and  the  blood  which  formed  the  bubbles,  coagulated  when  shed. 
Again,  a human  leg  having  been  amputated  above  the  knee,  I pressed  out  the  blood 
from  about  an  inch  of  the  open  mouth  of  the  popliteal  vein,  and  covered  the  raw  sur- 
face lightly  with  a damp  cloth,  so  as  to  guard  against  drying  of  the  blood,  or  of  the 
walls  of  the  vessel  in  contact  udth  it.  After  the  lapse  of  twenty-four  hours,  the  vessel 
was  still  patulous ; but  the  blood,  though  it  had  been  so  long  freely  exposed  to  the 
influence  of  the  air,  continued  perfectly  fluid.  Further,  if  a vein  in  an  amputated 
sheep’s  foot  is  simply  wounded,  no  clot  forms  except  at  the  seat  of  wound.  If,  however, 
a portion  of  any  ordinary  solid  matter,  such  as  a fragment  of  glass,  a bit  of  clean  wax,  a 
hair,  a needle,  or  a piece  of  fine  silver  wire,  be  introduced  into  such  a vein,  a deposit  of 
fibiine  takes  place  after  some  minutes  upon  the  foreign  body  J,  followed  by  coagulation 
of  the  blood  in  that  particular  part  of  the  vessel ; the  coagulum,  however,  never  adhering 
* See  a paper  by  the  author  “ On  spontaneous  Gangrene  from  Arteritis,  and  the  Causes  of  the  Coagulation 
of  the  Blood  in  Diseases  of  the  Blood-vessels,”  Edinburgh  Medical  Journal,  March  1858.  The  observations 
there  recorded,  and  also  the  others  mentioned  in  the  text  -with  regard  to  coagulation,  have  been  made  since 
the  reading  of  the  original  manuscript. 
t The  blood  coagulates  more  slowly  the  later  it  is  examined  after  death  or  amputation,  and  finally  be- 
comes altogether  incapable  of  the  process.  The  time  when  this  occurs  differs  in  different  cases.  Thu»,  in 
the  foot  of  the  sheep  I have  seen  coagulation  take  place,  though  slowly,  on  the  sixth  day  ; but  in  the  human 
subject  on  one  occasion  I found  the  blood  remain  permanently  fluid  when  shed  within  forty-eight  hours  of 
death,  though  in  another  instance  at  the  same  period  a soft  clot  formed  in  about  half  an  hour. 
+ These  facts,  ascertained  in  November  1858,  have  considerably  modified  the  views  expressed  in  the  paper 
above  referred  to. 
4 T 2 
