On the laws and principles concerned in the aggregation of blood-corpuscles both within and without vessels / by Richard Norris, M.D.

  • Norris, Richard, 1830-1916.
Date:
[1869]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the laws and principles concerned in the aggregation of blood-corpuscles both within and without vessels / by Richard Norris, M.D. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

    4/28 page 430
    fact, many theories have been advanced to explain its nature ; but all of them, without exception, have laboured under the disadvantage of being purely hypothetical in their character, and quite incapable of demonstra- tion by an appeal to experiment. Thus, while some writers have attri- buted the effect to an imaginary law of vital attraction, others have more correctly referred it to the operation of some unexplained physical cause. Professor Lister (son of the original observer already mentioned), who has devoted much attention to this subject, says, in a paper submitted to the Royal Society, June 18, 1857, and published in the Philosophical Transactions for 1858, p. 648 :— For my own part, I am satisfied that the rouleaux are simply the result of the biconcave form of the red disks, to- gether with a cer^iin though not very great degree of adhesiveness, which retains them pretty firmly attached together when in the position most favourable for its operation, viz, when the margins of their concave surfaces are applied accurately together, but allows them to slip upon one another when in any other position. There is never to be seen anything • indicating the existence of an attractive force drawing the corpuscles towards each other : they merely stick together when brought into contact by accidental causes. Their adhesiveness does not affect themselves alone, but other substances also, as may be seen when blood is in motion in an extremely thin film between two plates of glass, when they may be observed sticking for a longer or shorter time to one of the surfaces of the glass, each one dragging behind it a short tail-like process. Again, at the end of section I., p. C52 of the same paper, Lister says, From the facts detailed in this section, it appears that the aggregation of the corpuscles of blood removed from the body depends on their pos- sessing a certain degree of mutual adhesiveness, which is much greater in the colourless globules than in the red disks, and that in the latter this property, though apparently not dependent upon vitality, is capable of remarkable variations in consequence of very slight chemical changes in the liquor sanguinis. From these quotations it is apparent that Mr. Lister ignores altogether the idea of the aggregation of the corpuscles being due to an attractive force or energy, and refers it to adhesiveness or stickiness of the corpuscles ; in his own words, they merely stick together when brought into contact by accidental causes. At the same time he states that this adhesiveness is liable to great variations, both in the way of increase and diminution, by very slight changes in the chemical qualities of the plasma. Dipping deeper into the writings of Lister, we find that this idea of adhesiveness or stickiness of the corpuscles is retained in his explanation of the nature of inflammatory stasis. And his views upon the subject generally may be summed up in three propositions :— 1. The blood-corpuscles exhibit no tendency to unite together in healthy blood within the vessels, although such blood may be in a state of rest. 2. The corpuscles become suddenly adhesive (in 10 seconds) when, by being shed, the blood is brought into contact with ordinary matter.
    digitised image 1
    digitised image 2
    digitised image 3