THE INFLUENCE OF X-RAYS ON THE PROPERTIES 



OF BLOOD. 



By RAYMOND G. HUSSEY. 

 {From the Laboratories of The Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research) 



(Received for publication, March 29, 1922.) 



In the course of an experimental investigation concerning the 

 nature of the reaction of the animal organism to x-rays we have made 

 observations which we believe to be of sufficient interest to communi- 

 cate in the form of a preliminary report. Our experiments were origin- 

 ally designed to throw some light on the question raised by the state- 

 ment made by some roentgenologists that the characteristic illness 

 frequently observed in individuals after an exposure to massive 

 therapeutic doses of x-rays is due to a state of acidosis. The basis 

 of this statement is apparently an empirical one since there is no 

 rational evidence to support such an idea. We do not interpret the 

 results of the experiments to be reported in this paper as a final answer 

 to this question. We shall discuss this subject in a later paper. 



Our procedure has been to study the numerical changes in the white 

 cells of the blood, and the pH and bicarbonate content of the plasma 

 in rabbits following an exposure of these animals to x-rays. Rabbits 

 were chosen as the most convenient of the usual laboratory animals 

 for our first observations on account of the facility with which they 

 can be bled from the heart. We realize, however, that they are not 

 ideal animals for our ultimate purpose. The plasma was obtained 

 from blood drawn under paraffin oil into a tube which contained a 

 sufficient amount of potassium oxalate to prevent coagulation. From 

 15 to 20 cc. of blood were drawn and the final oxalate concentration 

 was about 0.3 per cent. Immediately after drawing the blood the 

 plasma was separated from the cells by centrifuging. The surface of 

 the oil was covered with low freezing point paraffin before centrifug- 

 ing to prevent contact with air. We have found it possible to bleed a 

 rabbit four or five times a week without any apparent efifect on the 



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