EFFECTS ON THE BLOOD 259 



Herzog ('21) obtained negative results as to erythrocytes, total and differential 

 leukocyte count, and blood platelets. Findlay ('21a) found only a slight 

 decrease in the erythrocyte count. Bedson (' 2 1 ) in guinea pigs and monkeys (also 

 one human) found but slight variation from the normal in the red cells, leuko- 

 cytes (total and differential) and platelets. He reviews the literature showing 

 contradictory results on the platelets. Only Mouriquand ('21) obtained more 

 positive results, finding a decrease in the red cell count from 5,518,000 (hemo- 

 globin 80 per cent) to 3,250,000 (hemoglobin 65) in 24 days, with anisocytosis 

 and poikilocytosis. On giving orange juice, the red cells increased to 5,201,000 

 (hemoglobin 60) on the 28th day; with complete recovery and 5,406,000 red 

 cells (hemoglobin 90) on the 37th day. 



Effects of Water Deficiency. — According to Lorenzen ('87), a decrease in 

 drink to reduce body fat was recommended by Plinius, and in the 19th century 

 by the French physician, Dancel. The method was rediscovered by Oertel, who 

 ascribed obesity to excessive water consumption. He explained the effect of 

 thirst through decrease of the water-content in the blood, producing a concen- 

 tration of the red corpuscles which was supposed to increase the oxidation of the 

 body fat. Denning ('99), however, found but slight increase in the human red 

 cell count or hemoglobin during thirst (up to 1 week). Naegeli ('12) stated that 

 the blood may become concentrated, with abnormally high red cell count, as a 

 result of thirst, or of loss of body fluid through diarrhea, etc. Rubow ('20) con- 

 cluded that in dry diet cures the effects are partly due to the resultant concen- 

 tration of the blood, the water content of which may be reduced 8-12.5 per 

 cent. Marriott ('20) holds that diarrhea in infants may give rise to a toxic 

 condition, with anhydremia, largely due to the general desiccation of the body 

 and measured by the concentration of the blood. In a recent review, Marriott 

 ('23) concludes that thirst causes anhydremia with impairment of the circula- 

 tion, resulting in marked functional disturbances throughout the body. Through 

 loss of water from the blood plasma, the blood is greatly concentrated, and the 

 red cell count may be doubled. Destruction of red cells also occurs in severe 

 cases, with resultant delay in recovery after water is administered. 



Among animals, the effects of thirst upon the blood have often been studied. 

 Falck and Scheffer ('54), in a dog fed dry bread found the water content of the 

 blood decreasing from 86.11 to 82.83 per cent. Bowin ('80) in dogs and rabbits 

 on a relatively dry diet (meat or vegetables) found the red blood cell count 

 nearly normal for 4 or 5 days, then becoming progressively higher, reaching 

 nearly double (8,544,000) on the 13th day. 



Giirber ('89) noted that while in a frog kept in a moist place the erythrocyte 

 count decreased from 836,000 to 516,000 in 6 days, in another frog kept in a 

 dry place it increased from 865,000 to 1,352,000 in 5 days. Durig ('01) found 

 a smaller increase of 3-16 per cent in the red cell count of frogs losing 

 13-35 per cent in body weight by desiccation. 



Pernice and Scagliosi ('95a) found in a dog fed dry bread the red cell count 

 increased somewhat during the first 4 days, from 5,177,000 to 7,409,000, with 

 corresponding hemoglobin increase from 65 to 105. Later the red cell count 

 decreased to 4,712,000 and the hemoglobin to 55, on the nth day, shortly 



