Water 786·500 Albumen 69·415 Fibrin 3·565 Colouring matter 119·626 Crystallizable fatty matter 4·300 Oily matter 2·270 Extractive matter, soluble in alcohol and water 1·920 Albumen combined with soda 2·010 Chloruret of sodium and potassium, alkaline phosphate, sulphate, and subcarbonates 7·304 Subcarbonate of lime and magnesia, phosphates of lime, magnesia and iron, peroxide of iron 1·414 Loss 2·586 -------- 1000· 238. From the results of this analysis it is manifest that all the proximate principles of which the different tissues are composed exist in the blood, namely, albumen, the proximate principle forming the basis of membrane; fibrin, the proximate principle forming the basis of muscle; fatty matter, forming the basis of nerve and brain; and various saline and mineral substances, forming a large part of bone, and entering more or less into the composition of every fluid and solid. 239. The blood, which contains all the proximate constituents of the body, and which, by distributing them to the various tissues and organs, maintains their integrity and life, is itself alive. The vitality of the blood is proved,— 240. i. By its undergoing the process of death, which it does just as much as the heart or the brain, every time it is removed from the body. While flowing in its living vessel, the blood is permanently fluid. Its fluidity depends on a force of mutual repulsion exerted by its particles on each other. That repulsive force is a vital endowment, probably derived from the organic nerves so abundantly distributed to the inner coat of the blood-vessels. When this vital influence is withdrawn, which happens on the removal of the blood from its vessel, the mass is no longer capable of remaining fluid; the fibrin is converted into a solid; the red particles, instead of repelling, attract each other, forming the crude aggregate at the bottom of the clot; coagulation is thus a process of death; its commencement indicates a diminution of the vital energy of the blood; during its progress that energy is constantly growing less and less; the blood is dying; and when complete, the blood is dead.