683 
Extracts from British and Foreign Journals. 
THE CROONIIN LECTURE ON THE COAGULATION OE THE 
BLOOD, DELIVERED BEFORE THE ROYAL SOCIETY, 
JULY 11, 1863. 
By Joseph Lister, Esq., F.H.S., F.R.C.S. 
Mu. President and Gentlemen, —The subject on 
which I have the honour to address 3 ^ou this evening is*one 
which lies at the foundation both of physiology and patho¬ 
logy, and, on account of its great importance, has engaged 
the best energies of many very able men, among whom may 
be mentioned, for example, such distinguished Fellows of 
this Society" as John Hunter and Hewson ; so that it might 
well seem presumptuous in me to hope to communicate any¬ 
thing new regarding it, were it not that the constant pro¬ 
gress of physiology and the allied sciences is ever opening up 
fresh paths for inquiry, and ever affording fresh facilities for 
pursuing them. Indeed, my difficulty on the present occa¬ 
sion does not depend so much on the lack of materials as on 
the complicated relations of the subject, which make me 
almost despair of being able, in the short time that can be 
devoted to a lecture, to give, in anything like an intel¬ 
ligible form, even an adequate selection of the facts at my 
disposal. 
It may, in the first place, be worth while, more especially 
for the sake of any present who may not be physiologists, to 
mention very briefly some well-known general facts respecting 
the constitution of the blood. The blood, if examined by the 
microscope within the vessels of a living animal, is seen to 
consist of a liquid and numerous small particles suspended in 
it. The liquor is termed the ‘^Miquor sanguinis,” the particles 
the “blood-corpuscles."” Of these corpuscles a few are 
colourless, and are named the “ colourless^^ or “white cor¬ 
puscles.” The great majority are coloured and cause the red 
appearance of blood, and hence are called the “red cor¬ 
puscles.” Soon after blood has been shed from the body, it 
passes from the fluid into the solid form. This depends 
upon the development in the blood of a solid material termed 
“fibrin,” so called from its fibrous nature, consisting, as 
examined by the naked eye, of tenacious fibres, and having 
the same character also under the microscope. These fibres 
