The Plasma Viscosity.

The viscosity of the plasma was studied briefly by Fahraeus in his original investigations (1921) into the blood sedimentation rate. In 1940 further studies were made by T'Ang and Wang, who concluded that it gave a more accurate picture of the activity of disease processes than the erythrocyte sedimentation rate. The plasma viscosity technique was independently developed by Whittington and his colleagues, who reached a similar conclusion (Miller and Whittington, 1942; Houston, Harkness, and Whittington, 1946). In the present work an attempt has been made to study the importance of individual protein fractions in plasma viscosity changes and to assess the value of such a fractionation in diagnosis, prognosis, and the control of therapy.