CHAPTER XVIII. 



CRYSTALLOGRAPHY OF THE HEMOGLOBINS OF THE 

 PRIMATES LEMURS, BABOONS, AND MAN. 



The specimens of blood of the Primates received were not very repre- 

 sentative of the order. They comprised one lemuroid, Lemur catta, the 

 ring-tailed lemur; 6 species of the Cercopithecidce, all members of the genus 

 Papio (baboons) ; and the blood of man, Homo sapiens. The 6 species of 

 baboons were the yellow baboon, Papio babuin; the drill, Papio leuco- 

 phceus; the Guinea baboon, Papio sphinx; the long-armed baboon, Papio 

 langheldi; the chacma, Papio porcarius, and the Anubis baboon, Papio anubis. 



In the case of several of the baboons, the supply of blood was suffi- 

 cient to allow several methods of preparation to be used, and the crystals 

 obtained were satisfactory for study. Three kinds of oxyhemoglobin crys- 

 tals were observed in baboon blood, which are distinguished as a-, /?-, and 

 y-oxyhemoglobin, respectively. Two of these types were observed in 

 human blood. All species of the baboons did not develop these three kinds 

 of oxyhemoglobin crystals, but when all three kinds were not observed it 

 was due to the condition of the blood, or to lack of sufficient material. 

 In comparing the hemoglobins of the species of Primates, the corresponding 

 kind of oxyhemoglobin should be used. 



TABLE 48. The three kinds of oxyhemoglobin observed in baboons and in man, 



with their optical characters. 



The a-oxyhemoglobin of the baboons and of man showed only the 

 pinacoidal planes, so that the axial ratio could not be determined; but, 

 in the monoclinic /3-oxyhemoglobin crystals, the prism angle gave the ratio 

 of a : b. The optical characters were determined in practically every case. 

 The crystals of y-oxyhemoglobin were not observed so frequently as those 

 of the a- and /3-oxyhemoglobin; in these y-oxyhemoglobin crystals, also, 

 the prism was developed and gave the axial ratio of a : b. Table 48 shows 

 the distribution of these three kinds of oxyhemoglobin in the baboons and 

 in man, as they were observed in our experiments. 



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