394 
INFLAMMATION. 
degree, that the elastic principle was destroyed, and they could 
not contract upon and propel the fluid contained within their 
cavities, should we have increased redness? Should we have 
increased heat ? Should we have the natural average degree of 
heat? No! What, then, should we have? Why, instead of red¬ 
ness, we should have a livid, black colour, betokening gangrene, 
of which I shall have more to say when I arrive at the termina¬ 
tions of inflammation; and instead of increased heat, we should 
have a diminished temperature. On the other hand, it is self- 
evident, that an increased quantity of blood, not only existing 
in but circulating through the capillaries, must be productive 
of increased heat and increased redness. The intensity of this 
symptom is also much influenced by the enlarged capacity of 
the seriferous arteries permitting the red globules to enter their 
tubes. We have daily evidences of this in inflammations of the 
mucous coat of the eye. In a healthy state, that portion of it 
covering the cornea is perfectly pellucid: not a vessel can be 
discerned on its surface; but under inflammation we distinctly 
see the minute arteries traversing it in all directions, and filled 
with red blood. We also have anatomical proof of this fact 
afforded us by Mr. Hunter: “ I froze,” says he, “ the ear of a 
rabbit, and thawed it again: this occasions considerable inflam¬ 
mation, and increased heat and thickening of the parts. This 
rabbit was killed when the ear was in the height of inflamma¬ 
tion; and the head being injected, the two ears were removed 
and dried. The uninflamed ear dried clear and transparent—the 
vessels were distinctly seen ramifying through its substance; 
but the inflamed ear dried thicker and more opaque, and its 
arteries were considerably larger, and more numerous.” It has 
likewise been supposed (and the supposition has received sup¬ 
port from high authority), that the redness in inflammation is 
in part to be attributed to the formation of new vessels. On 
this point I am somewhat sceptical. When coagulable matter 
is thrown out between two inflamed surfaces, undoubtedly it 
does speedily become organized; and in abscesses, the coating 
of lymph which lines the cyst also receives new vessels, else 
how could pus continue to be secreted? Yet we have no proof, 
anatomical or otherwise, of their formation in the tumour of a 
simple phlegmonous inflammation. I know the celerity and 
efficacy of Nature’s operations; but in many acute inflamma¬ 
tions the maximum degree of redness comes on so very rapidly, 
that I much doubt the generation of new vessels. Moreover than 
that, it appears to me, that if such were the case, the redness 
would be more permanent; and that it may be produced without 
such addition, is evident from the fleeting act of blushing. This 
