528 



OF ABSORPTION AND SANGUIFICATION. 



distinction among the Invertebrata between the absorbent and sanguiferous 

 vessels. 



697. The proportion of the several components of Blood is subject to con- 

 siderable variations, within the limits of health. Some of these variations 

 may be habitual, depending upon the constitution of the individual, his diet, 

 mode of life, &c.; whilst others are probably referrible to the period at which 

 the last meal was taken, and the amount of bodily exertion made within a 

 short time previous to the analysis. 



a. The discordance in the results obtained by different experimenters is doubtless owing 

 in part to the diversity in their methods of analysis;* but even where the same method is 

 employed, a wide diversity is apparent ; as in the analysis of MM. Becquerel and Rodier. 

 As there is a tolerably constant difference between the Male and the Female, it will be de- 

 sirable to class them separately ; and the results of some of the most recent and trustworthy 

 analyses of each will be brought together for the sake of comparison. The analyses of M. 

 Lecanu were made on the blood of two stout and healthy men ; whilst those of MM. Bec- 

 querel and Rodier give the maximum, minimum, and mean amount, of each ingredient in 

 the blood of eleven healthy men, between the ages of 21 and 66 years. 



Lecanu. 



Water 



Fibrine 



Corpuscles 



Albumen 



Extractive mat- 

 ters, Salts, and 

 loss 



Fatty matters . 



14-6 

 3-8 



13-1 

 6-6 



1000-0 1000-0 1000.0 



Simon. 



791-9 



2-0 



114-3 



75-6 



14-2 



2-0 

 1000-0 



Nasse. 



798-4 



2-3 



116-5 



74-2 



6-6 

 2-0 



1000-0 



The following table gives the results of similar analyses on the blood of Females; those 

 of MM. Becquerel and Rodier being made upon eight healthy subjects between the ages of 

 22 and 58 years. 



Water 



Fibrine .... 

 Corpuscles . 



Albumen .... 

 Extractive matters and Salts 

 Fatty matters 



MM. Becquerel and Rodier. 



Mean. Maxima. Minima. 



791-1 813-0 



2-2 2-5 



127-2 137-5 



70-5 75-5 



7-4 8-5 



1-6 2-9 



Simon. 



1000-0 



1000-0 



6. Of the Fatty matters of the Blood, a portion seems to correspond with the constituents 

 of ordinary Fat; another portion seems identical with the Chokstcrine, or Biliary Fat ; whilst 

 another contains Phosphorus, and seems allied to the fatty acids of Nervous matter ( 249). 



c. Of the nature of the substances classed under the head of Extractive, very little is 

 known. It has been lately asserted, that a portion of them consists of binoxidc of proteino 

 ( 11G, a) ; but as to the actual existence of this substance, there is still much doubt. Under 

 the genera! designation of extractive are arranged the " ill-defined animal principle*,' 1 which 

 may include various substances in a state of change or disintegration, that are being elimi- 

 nated from the blood by the processes of Excretion. 



d. The Saline constituents of the Blood, obtained by drying and incinerating the -whole 

 mass, usually amount to between 6 and 7 parts in 1000. More than half their total quan- 

 tity is composed of the Chlorides of Sodium and Potassium ; and the remainder is made up 

 of the tribasic Phosphate of Soda, the Phosphates of Lime and Magnesia, Sulphate of Soda, 





* Thus the small amount of Salts, in the analysis of Nassc and of MM. Becquerel and 

 Rodier, as compared with those of MM. Lecanu and Simon, appears due to the fact that the 

 former express only the free salts, whilst the latter include those which are in combination 

 with the organic constituents. 



