( 147 ) 



TABLE I. 



Effect of lessening; the concentration of the serum. 



From this table it appears that in serum, to which no water has 

 been added, of the 886 examined leucocytes, 331 had taken up 

 carbon, i.e. 37 %• 



We must here point out that in the circulating, and also in the coagulated 

 blood, the percentage of phagocytes is actually much smaller. 



By a certain proceeding, however, we contrived that in our experiments, the 

 leucocytes used for examination should contain a great number of phagocytes. 

 This process is based on the fact that among the leucocytes, the phagocytes are 

 the cells which soonest sink to the bottom. After this explanation, it will cause 

 no surprise to find that, in normal serum, the percentage of the phagocytes 

 which have taken up carbon, continually varies in different series of our experiments. 



An addition of 20 % water, already lessens the phagocytarian 

 power with 13 1 /, °/ . In calculating this loss on an addition of 

 5 °/o water, supposing the diminution to be proportionate, the de- 

 crease of the phagocytarian capacity would have amounted to : 



5 



— X 13.5 % =r 3.4 %• In other words, when the osmotic concen- 

 20 



tration of the blood plasma is lessened by 5%> n loss which in a 



healthy individual may be of daily occurrence '), the phagocytarian 



power falls about 3.4 °/ . 



By the side of this great sensitiveness of the phagocytes to the 



increase of their percentage of water, stands the fact, as shown from 



') Compare a o. Koeppe. Pflüger's Archiv. 62, 1896. S. 567. In his experim nls, 

 Koeppe noticed a decline below the mean osmotic pressure of over 10%- 



