Am.  Jour.  Pbarm.  \ 
April,  1892.  J 
Coagulation  of  the  Blood. 
20I 
8  parts  zinc  oxide,  8  parts  absolute  alcohol,  and  lastly  I  part  each 
of  collodion  and  ether. 
Ichthyol  Borax  Casein  Varnish. — Five  parts  sodium  ichthyolate 
and  15  parts  borax  casein  varnish. 
Sulphur  Glycerin  Casein  Varnish. — Five  parts  sulphur  and  15 
parts  glycerin  and  casein  varnish. 
Zinc  Oxide  Salepbassorin  Varnish. — Two  parts  zinc  oxide  and  18 
parts  salepbassorin  varnish. 
Zinc  Ichthyol  Tragacanth  Bassorin  Varnish. — One  part  sodium 
ichthyolate,  2  parts  zinc  oxide,  and  17  parts  tragacanth  bassorin 
varnish. —  Therapeut.  Monatsch.;  Phar.  Jour,  and  Trans.,  March  5, 
1892,  p.  733- 
COAGULATION  OF  THE  BLOOD.1 
By  C.  A.  Pekelharing. 
Recently,  a  number  of"  observations  on  the  importance  of  cal- 
cium salts  in  the  process  of  blood  coagulation  have  been  pub- 
lished. 
Brucke  first  showed  that  the  ash  of  fibrin  always  contains  cal- 
cium. In  1875,  Hammarsten  found  that  calcium  chloride  can  take 
the  place  of  serum  globulin  in  fibrin  formation.  In  1887,  Green 
found  that  in  magnesium  sulphate  plasma,  and  also  in  other  forms 
of  plasma,  coagulation  is  hastened  if  small  quantities  of  calcium  sul- 
phate are  added  in  addition  to  fibrin  ferment.  Later,  Ringer  and 
Sainsbury  found  that  this  result  can  be  brought  about  by  other 
calcium  salts,  such  as  the  chloride,  and  also,  but  not  so  readily,  by 
means  of  soluble  strontium  and  barium  salts.  Freund  [Med.  Jahrb., 
1888,  259)  who  also  noted  the  hastening  of  coagulation  by  calcium 
salts,  considered  that  the  blood  corpuscles,  as  soon  as  the  blood  is 
shed,  yield  alkaline  phosphates  to  the  plasma ;  meeting  with  the 
calcium  salts  there,  tricalcium  phosphate  is  precipitated,  and  herein 
lies  the  cause  of  fibrin  formation.  Latschenberger  [Med.  jfahrb.y 
1 888,  479),  and  von  Strauch  (Dissert.  Dorpat,  1889)  showed  cer- 
tain fallacies  in  this  hypothesis  ;  thus  the  addition  of  alkaline  phos- 
phates and  calcium  salts  resulting  in  the  precipitation  of  tricalcium 
phosphate  does  not  always  lead  to  the  formation  of  fibrin  in  fibrin- 
ogenous  liquids;  also  the  first  portions  of  fibrin  formed  were  found 
1  Virchow's  Festschrift,  1891,  Bd.  1  ;  Jour.  Chem.  Soc,  1892,  p.  87. 
