LANCASHIRE VETERINARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 351 
Mr. T. Briggs then read an interesting paper on “Some of the Pro¬ 
ducts of Inflammation.” 
Mr. President, Vice-President, and Gentlemen, —At the last 
meeting of this Association our energetic secretary, Mr. Locke, in¬ 
sisted upon my reading the paper of this evening as an earnest of wil¬ 
lingness to contribute my quota. 
As a junior member of the society I decided upon a scientific subject, 
in the belief that the selection of a treatise of such principles as underlie 
our daily experiences would be an appropriate method of calling forth 
the valued observations and experiences of our senior members in the 
subsequent discussion. At first I mapped out more than I have since 
thought it wise to attempt to exhaust. 
I propose to describe and illustrate to you the anatomy of inflamed 
tissues as generators of pus, together with a brief sketch of the nature of 
repair by inflammatory new formations. At the outset I must acknow¬ 
ledge the assistance of my brother, Mr. A. W. Briggs, who undertook to 
illustrate the subject by this series of diagrams. 
In discussing suppuration as one of the products of inflammatory 
action, it is necessary to allude briefly to the properties and composition 
of pus. 
Healthy or laudable pus is defined as a creamy, thick, opaque, and 
homogeneous fluid, communicating an unctuous feeling when rubbed be¬ 
tween the fingers, and to be of a yellowish tint, sweetish taste or insipid, 
and while warm to give off a peculiar mawkish smell. If allowed to 
stand in a test-tube it separates into an upper thin, clear layer, and a 
lower yellow sediment. The latter consists chiefly of pus-corpuscles, the 
former being a fluid intercellular substance. 
On examination under the microscope, pus-corpuscles assume an 
appearance of finely-punctated globules, containing three or four dark 
nuclei. Ascetic acid dissolves the pale granules of the protoplasm, and 
brings into view the nuclei which are not acted upon by the acid. Alka¬ 
lies readily dissolve the pus-globules, and afford a confirmatory test of 
the nature of urinary and other purulent deposits. Von Recklinghausen 
described the above characters as exhibited by dead pus-cells under the 
microscope. Max Schultze observed, however, that pus-cells in a moist 
heated chamber exhibited amoeboid movements, like other clumps of 
living protoplasm. 
The diagram No. 1 is intended to show the three different conditions 
of pus-cells. The chemical examination of pus has proved that it consists 
of water, proteid substances, fatty matter (including cholesterin), salts, 
and so-called extractives. Dr. Walshe remarks the peculiar property of 
pus in resisting decomposition, and that while it retards the putrefaction 
of substances immersed in it, it would appear to actually dissolve a piece 
of muscle without putrefaction. 
In treating of the source of pus I must again refer to the separation 
on standing into serum and corpuscles. The agreement of the former, or 
liquor puris, with blood serum in its characters, has led authorities 
to regard it as exuded liquor sanguinis. The origin of pus-corpuscles 
has been the subject of much controversy. 
I will not enter into a lengthy discussion of the theories advanced by 
the different pathologists. In our search for the origin of pus-corpuscles 
it is well to take a comprehensive view of the tissues in which cells, agree¬ 
ing more or less with many of the characters of pus-corpuscles, are to be 
found. For example: 
Firstly.—Corpuscles largely circulating in the blood-vessels, known as 
