a hernia. Taxis was tried ineffectually, and repeated in a couple of hours, after a warm bath and small doses of opium, but with similar unsuccessful result; by this time, however, the swelling was as large as the child's head, and tender and discoloured. A final attempt at reduction was made, but in spite of careful manipulation it again failed. Ether was now administered, and, just forty-five hours after birth, the operation was performed. Upon opening the sac an indirect inguinal hernia was discovered, which had become strangulated at the internal abdominal ring. The band of tissue causing the constriction was nicked with a probe-pointed bistoury, the opening enlarged with the forefinger, and the gut, which was purple from the long-continued strangulation, carefully returned to the abdominal cavity with the aid of the forefinger and the ivory handle of an exploring needle. The tumour contained the greater part of the small intestine from near the duodenum to the lower end of the ileum, but no omentum was found in the sac. The opposite walls of the caual were now brought together by one silk suture, the ends of which were drawn out of the external wound, which in turn was closed by several stitches, and dressed with oxide of zinc ointment, covered with picked lint. The patient made a rapid recovery, without a single bad symptom. A year has elapsed since the operation, which may be considered as a final success. Until lately a truss has been constantly worn, but the hernia is now radically cured, and the support no longer needed. 17. Note of a Case of New Growth in the Navel. By Dr. Wulkow, of Pirna (Schmidt's Jahrb.,' h. 2, 1876).—The author cites a case of the simultaneous appearance of a carcinomatous tumour of the stomach and navel, which according to his conjecture were developed from the same cause. He treated a patient, who hurrying along one dark night ran against a pillar, injuring himself in the region of the stomach, since which time he complained of pain in the abdomen, which at first seemed to be stomach catarrh. A year later a humid, irregular, prominent tumour appeared in the navel about the size of a plum, and the skin in its neighbourhood was red and infiltrated. A process of the mass could be made out along the ligament suspensorium hepatis. Shortly afterwards there were symptoms of deep-seated pain, more in the anterior portion of the stomach. The patient was treated with condurango, but soon sank; and the post mortem confirmed the diagnosis of cancer of the stomach. The growth in the navel also showed clearly carcinomatous structure, of similar nature to that of the tumour of the stomach. (For an essay on operative treatment in cases of carcinoma involving the stomach reference may be made to a paper-" Die partielle Magen resection, eine experimentelle operative Studie," &c.-Gussenbauer und Winiwarter, Archiv f. Klin.-Chir.,' B. 9, h. 3, 1876.) (ED. REP.) REPORT ON PHYSIOLOGY. By HENRY POWER, F.R.C.S., M.B. Lond., BLOOD. 1. L. MALASSEZ. Recherches sur quelques variations qui présente la masse totale du sang. Archives de Physiologie,' 1875, p. 261. 2. A EWALD. Nachweis von Zucker und Blute eines gesunden Menschen durch Reduction, Gährung und Drehung. Berlin. Klin. Wochenschrift,' 1875. Nos. 51 and 52. 6 3. ALEX. SCHMIDT. Ueber die Beziehung der Faserstoffgerinnung zu den Körperlichen Elementen des Blutes. Pflüger's Archiv,' xi, p. 291. 4. OLOF. HAMMARSTEN. Untersuchungen über die Faserstoffgerinnung. 'S. A. Nov. Act. Soc. Scient. Upsal.,' Ser. iii, B. x, 1875. Abstract in Centralblatt,' 1876. p. 249. 5. Dr. A. RÖHRIG. Ueber die Zusammensetzung und das Schicksal den in das Blut Eingetretenen Nährfette. 6. A. PUPIER. Action des Alcalines sur la Composition du Sang, &c. Comptes Rendus,' lxxx, p. 1146. 1. M. MALASSEZ suggests the use of the term "globular capacity to indicate a quotient obtained by dividing the absolute number of blood-corpuscles by the weight of the animal expressed in grammes. A rabbit weighing 2450 grammes has 919,450 millions of bloodcorpuscles, and has hence a "globular capacity " of 373 millions. By the term "globular richness," M. Malassez signifies the number of blood-corpuscles contained in a cubic millimètre. If these two amounts be followed through the animal series it will be found that the globular capacity is greatest in mammals (bat, 630 millions; rabbits, 373 millions); and next in the birds, in which it is somewhat smaller. It is much less in teleostean fishes, and still less in cartilaginous fish (sharks and rays) and the batrachia (torpedo, 2.6 millions; frog, 17 millions; proteus, 2 millions; axolotl, 14 millions). The "globular richness. diminishes in the animal kingdom in the same direction as the blood capacity: the two curves, however, are not quite parallel, the "globular capacity" diminishing more rapidly than the "corpuscular richness." This smaller diminution of corpuscular richness has as a result that the greater diminution of the "globular capacity" is to some extent compensated. M. Malassez has made the influence of age on the number of the blood-corpuscles the subject of extended researches in rabbits, rats, guinea-pigs, dogs, cats, the embryoes of birds, and the larvæ of frogs. In mammals, as a rule, both the globular capacity and globular richness rise immediately after birth, and attain their acme in the third or fourth week of life; it then begins to fall, and sinks below its original amount. Both amounts increase again considerably in adults. In fowls the globular capacity scarcely varies during the whole period of brooding; after hatching it sinks very considerably, and in adults it rises again without even attaining its original embryonal amount. Researches on animals in various hygienic conditions gave as a general result that the corpuscular capacity invariably diminishes when these conditions are unfavorable. M. Malassez examined the blood of two persons from one of whom the blood had been drawn which was transfused into another. In the former the quantity of blood present amounted to one seventieth of the weight of the body, in the other to one ninth. 2. Ewald has had the opportunity of testing the blood for sugar in a healthy man, who died suddenly from rupture of the pulmonary artery. The blood obtained from the resulting hæmothorax treated with absolute alcohol, lead acetate, &c., in the usual method gave a watery extract, which reduced copper, underwent fermentation, and rotated the ray of light to the right. 3. Alexander Schmidt, who has strongly maintained the compound nature of fibrin, observes that the artificial formation of fibrin from its two generators (and ferment, which as a rule is adherent to the fibrino-plastic substance) takes place best and most readily when one of the two substances is employed in its natural solution, whilst it occurs feebly and imperfectly or not at all if the two bodies are mingled in solution, in weak solution of soda. From recent expe riments he has satisfied himself that the presence of neutral salts is requisite for the formation of fibrin, just as it is for the coagulation of albumen at a high temperature. If from two fluids which when mingled coagulate the salts are removed by dialysis and the precipitated substances (fibrin-forming substances) be dissolved with a minimum amount of soda, no coagulation results from their admixture, but if one of the diffusates be now added to the mixture fibrin separates out. The same effect is produced by the addition of some solution of common salt to the extent of 08-1 per cent. It thus appears that a certain relative amount of salt is requisite, and an explanation is afforded of the circumstance that the fluids of the body give, if diluted, less fibrin. Schmidt describes the mode in which the several factors of fibrin may be obtained. For the ferment he recommends that alcohol should be allowed to act on albumen for three or four months, otherwise the solution of the ferment may contain fibrino-plastic substance. 2. Fibrinogenous substances are contained in quantity in the pericardial fluid of the horse and the fluid of hydrocele. 3. Fibrino-plastic substance is best obtained from ovalbumen which at most only contains traces of the ferment. If the three substances are thus separately obtained it is easy to show that their concurrent action is required for the formation of fibrin coagulation, which if they be added together take place either with neutral, feebly alkaline or feebly acid reaction. The quantity of the fibrin obtained depends on the temperature and its physical condition on the rapidity of its formation; the slower it is the looser. 4. The starting-point of Hammarsten's investigations was the observation that on the addition of calcium-chloride to the fluid of hydrocele which had previously been mingled with fibrin-ferment the process of coagulation was (1) considerably accelerated, and (2) that the quantity of fibrin excreted was considerably augmented, as was shown by weighing the ashes of the fibrin. Hammarsten, therefore, naturally asked himself the question whether the paraglobulin or fibrino-plastic substance present did not act in the same way as the addition of calcium-chloride, and whether consequently the theory of Schmidt, according to which a chemical combination takes place between the fibrinogen and the paraglobulin, could not be dispensed with. To decide this question Hammarsten made a great number of experiments. He first endeavoured to settle the question whether fibrin is really produced by the union of two kinds of albumen, the fibrinogenous and the fibrino-plastic substance. Thirty-one specimens of hydrocele fluid were experimented on, most of which are for the most part, according to Schmidt, "free from paraglobulin." Of these six coagulated spontaneously in the course of twenty-four hours, six more in the course of a few days, and the nineteen others refused to coagulate spontaneously. Of these last, ten coagulated after the addition of a solution of ferment, five after the addition of fibrin and fibrino-plastic substance, and four not at all. The solution of ferment was obtained in accordance with the direction given by Schmidt by extracting the dried coagulum precipitated from blood serum by alcohol with water. The expressions paraglobulin and fibrino-plastic substance are uniformly considered by Hammarsten to be identical. After he had satisfied himself that calcium-chloride might be termed fibrino-plastic with as much propriety as the paraglobulin, he proceeded to inquire whether other substances might not act in the same way. He first experimented with casein, which had been freed from fat and lactin by repeated solution in weak solution of soda, filtration, and reprecipitation by acetic acid. This was suspended in water and added to the hydrocele fluid, but no influence was observed to be exerted on coagulation. On the supposition that the mode of division of the casein might have a certain influence on the coagulation, the following experiment was instituted. Serum of the blood of the horse was diluted with nine volumes of water, and the paraglobulin thrown down in the course of twenty-four hours by the addition of acetic acid. The serum, now free from paraglobulin, was mixed with an alkaline solution of casein, and this again precipitated by the addition of acetic acid. The precipitate thus obtained, which on exposure to air changed into a sticky and even syrupy fluid, was found to be easily soluble in a 1 to 7 per cent. solution of common salt. This casein acted exactly like paraglobulin, hastening the coagulation and increasing the amount of fibrin. It might still be questioned whether the casein remains unchanged in its essential characters. But it is so, the neutral solution in common salt coagulating on the addition of rennet. On the other hand, it is certainly very probable that, in being obtained by the above-mentioned method, it is rendered impure from the presence of certain constituents of serum. It thus appears, nevertheless, that there are three substances which promote coagulation, and it is of importance to determine what it is that is common to all. With this end in view it was necessary to enter more minutely into the conditions of coagulation and to work as far as possible with pure materials, pure fibrinogen, ferment, and paraglobulin. Hammarsten adopted the following method to obtain the fibrinogen. The blood of the horse was received into vessels containing one fifth of their volume of a concentrated solution of sulphate of magnesia, so that a mixture of one volume of saline solution and four volumes of blood resulted; after standing several days the mixture was filtered. The clear, sometimes reddish filtrate was mingled with an equal volume of concentrated solution of common salt; when the fibrinogen was precipitated, it was further purified. It was used in the form of a solution in water containing about one per cent. of common salt. This solution did not coagulate spontaneously, but did do so on the additi n of fibrine-ferment. It was obviously of great importance to show that the fibrinogen solution contained no paraglobulin, and yet that notwithstanding the absence of this it coagulated. This proof may be shown by the addition of some common salt to the fluid; complete precipitation occurs and no albumen can be demonstrated, which can always be done when paraglobulin is present, as is shown by special experiments. The second part of Hammarsten's paper deals with the explanation of the influence that addition of paraglobulin exerts upon the rapidity of the coagulation and the quantity of fibrin. A. Schmidt noticed that less fibrin is obtained from strongly than from weakly alkaline fluid, and that its quantity can be raised by neutralisation; nevertheless, all the fibrin is not obtained under these conditions, since a part is again retained in solution by the salt resulting from neutralisation, and with a certain amount of alkali present the addition of alkali is without effect, because all the fibrin produced remains dissolved. Many hydrocele fluids, containing a very small amount of fibrinogen, give no coagulum (after the addition of a ferment), though they do so if they have been previously neutralised. The influence of alkalescence must necessarily be greater in fluids poor in fibrin than in those rich in fibrin, since the quantity of the fibrin held in solution by the alkali is an absolute amount, so that the increase of fibrin caused by neutralisation in fluids rich in fibrin is relatively less considerable than in those poor in fibrin. Neither the alkalies nor the salts act upon the ferment or upon the fibrinogen, since by mere change of the conditions, as, for example, the act of neutralising, causes the separation of fibrin from a previously non-coagulating fluid; they hold the fibrin in solution. Fibrin, when once separated from pure neutral solutions and well washed, is insoluble in salts and alkalies, and that separated from alkaline solutions has a gelatinous appearance, and is again after long standing redissolved in the solu |