On the extrusion of the morphological elements of the blood : the physical principles concerned, and the relation which such extruded elements bear to pus and to the so-called fibrinous exudation of inflammation / by Richard Norris.

  • Norris, Richard, 1830-1916.
Date:
1871
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the extrusion of the morphological elements of the blood : the physical principles concerned, and the relation which such extruded elements bear to pus and to the so-called fibrinous exudation of inflammation / by Richard Norris. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    powers, can be distinguished from one another by their microsco- pical or chemical characters. We could not distinguish the ger- minal matter of the lowest, simplest living thing from that of the highest brain cell of man. They differ in power and in action, although the material composing the one resembles in appearance that which constitutes the other.’ .... In all cases true pus corpuscles are the descendants of normal germinal matter, and result from its increase and multiplication at a greater rate than occurs in health. If the living germinal matter of any tissue, or that composing white blood, lymph, or chyle corpuscles, receives an increased supply of pabulum, it will grow, divide, and sub- divide, and at a gradually increasing rate if the conditions be favourable. The masses resulting from this process acquire pro- perties and powers very different from those of the originals. Hence, although a white blood corpuscle growing and multiplying under altered conditions may give rise to multitudes of pus cor- puscles, nothing can, I think, convert an individual white blood corpuscle into a pus corpuscle, and it is quite certain that under no circumstances whatever can pus corpuscles undergo conversion into, or give origin to, white corpuscles. We might as well pro- ceed to discuss whether a new and highly elaborate structure, with vessels, nerves, and special anatomical elements, could be formed from the contents of an abscess.” * I submit that Professor Beale has mistaken the position of the advocates of this view of pus formation. They maintain that no morphological or chemical difference exists between the white corpuscle and the pus cell, and therefore, so far from affirming that any change in the nature of the cell takes place during the passage through the wall of the capillary, such change would be fatal to their theory. The simple change of place warrants in their estimation the change of name; the designations are in fact convertible. In fine, they affirm that the same anatomical element has been hitherto variously denominated a white blood cell, or a pus cell, according to the locality in which it has chanced to be discovered; and further, had the possibility of the extrusion of the white blood corpuscles into the tissues been known from the beginning, the designation “pus cell ” would never have been needed or invented. It is true that Dr. Beale affirms that there is some essential difference between the white blood corpuscle and the pus cell, but * “Medical Times and Gazette,” May 9th, 1868.
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