142 MRS. ERNEST HART. 
25 mugr. The result in terms of pu gr., however, may be 
found in a moment by simply dividing 125 by 5 = 26, and 
disregarding all ciphers. 
In an extremely interesting research,’ M. Malassez found 
that, pathologically, the estimation of the hemoglobin per 
corpuscle gave very significant indications. In a case, 
which he quotes, of chlorosis which improved under treat- 
ment, the actual number of corpuscles per cubic mm. 
diminished, the amonnt of hemoglobin per corpuscle, almost 
doubling, however, in the same time; mere corpuscle 
counting here would have given an erroneous inference. In 
a series of experiments on fowls kept first at liberty in the 
open air, and then in unhealthy conditions in a courtyard, 
it was found that though the corpuscles did not notably 
diminish in number, the hemoglobin per corpuscle fell 
from 48 yu gr. to 33 uu gr. On examining a great number of 
animals he found that the lower in the scale one descends 
the larger the amount of hemoglobin per corpuscle, so that 
it might be too hastily assumed that the blood of the lower 
animals was richer in hemoglobin than that of the higher. 
At one end of the scale stands man with a mean normal of 
30 wu gr., and at the other the Proteus with 1066°6 yy gr. 
But the corpuscle of the Proteus is 127 times the volume 
of that of the human subject. The true ratio between 
them can only be ascertained by knowing the amount of 
hemoglobin contained in an unit of corpuscular substance. 
The unit taken is u®. To obtain this, the volume of 
the corpuscle must be known. Welcker, by an elaborate 
process, ascertained the mean volume of the corpuscles of 
a few animals as standards of comparison. These measure- 
ments being accepted as accurate, the amount of hemoglobin 
per corpuscle is divided by the mean volume of the corpuscles, 
and the product is the amount of hemoglobin per yp? of 
corpuscular substance. 
From the following table it will be seen that though the 
quantity of hemoglobin per corpuscle may increase from the 
higher to the lower animals, the true ratio of comparison is 
the unit of corpuscular richness in hemoglobin, and that 
this, on the contrary, rises in passing from the lower to the 
higher animals : 
Welcker’s ingenious method of ascertaining the value of 
1 “Sur la Richesse en Hémoglobine des Globules rouges du Sang,” par 
L. Malassez, ‘ Arch. de Phy.’ 
