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The authors have made numerous researches on the blood 

 of men and animals to test the truth of their views. 



In human blood they find that a very small number of 

 microcytes are often present in a state of health, but that 

 their existence is not constant. 



In various diseases they have found a few microcytes, as, 

 for instance, in typhoid fever, in puerperal fever of a pysemie 

 character, in one case of acute rheumatism, and in acute 

 pneumonia ; among chronic diseases, in cirrhosis of the 

 liver and constitutional syphilis; but the number was always 

 inconsiderable. 



Observations on the blood of animals showed that, while 

 birds and frogs had no microcytes, they were found normally 

 in mammalia (especially the rabbit and the guinea-pig), in 

 the blood of the splenic vein, except Avhen the animal was 

 killed fasting, while they were constantly absent in the blood 

 of the hepatic vein. These facts are the main support of the 

 theory that microcytes are formed in the spleen and destroyed 

 in the liver. 



The authors further analyse the remaining symptoms pre- 

 sented by the case which form the groundwork of their 

 treatise. The jaundice they believe to have been haemato- 

 genic, only owing to the presence in the blood, not of bile- 

 pigment, but of a substance derived from the blood — the 

 hamapheic icterus of Giibler. The urine was also found to 

 contain in excess various substances which might be derived 

 from retrograde metamorphosis or oxidation of blood-cor- 

 puscles. The paralysis they believe to have been due to 

 affection of the nerve centres. 



The simultaneous occurrence of these various symptoms 

 the authors believe to be attributable to no known disease, 

 and hence they feel themselves justified in regarding micro- 

 cythamia as a true morbid entity. Further, they have the 

 record of a precisely similar train of symptoms having oc- 

 curred previously to a sister of their patient, although in that 

 case, which was fatal, nothing was known of the state of the 

 blood. 



