508 On the. Leucoci/fes of Peptone Blood. [Feb. 9, 



leucocytes in solution. If this is so, we have a ready explanation of 

 some of the other characteristics of peptone plasma, notably of the 

 fact that the C0 3 in this blood is remarkably diminished as compared 

 with the normal blood, and also of the fact that peptone plasma clots 

 when a stream of C0 2 is passed through it. 



With regard to the diminution of the CO 2 in peptone blood, Lahonsse 

 (Du Bois-Reymond's ' Archiv,' 1889) surmised that it was due to a 

 driving out of gas from the blood. He based this view on the extreme 

 rapidity with which this diminution occurred in the blood after peptone 

 injection. Blachstein (Du Bois-Reymond's 'Archiv,' 1891), who fol- 

 lowed up Lahousse's work, contributed the following to our knowledge 

 of the question. A diminution of C0 2 is found in the Rabbit's blood 

 as well as in the Dog's blood after the injection of peptone. In the 

 three experiments reported by Blachstein the C0 2 of the normal 

 Rabbit's blood stood to the C0 2 of the peptonised Rabbit's blood 

 approximately in the relation of 4 : 3, 4 : 3, and 3 : 2. In his three 

 experiments on Dog's blood the ratios were approximately 3 : 1,3: 1, 

 and 2:1. It will be noticed that the C0 2 undergoes a greater 

 diminution in Dog's peptone blood than it does in Rabbit's peptone 

 blood. 



Grandis (Du Bois-Reymond's 'Archiv,' 1891) pursued the siibject 

 further, and demonstrated that the tension of C0 2 in peptone blood 

 is approximately double that of the C0 2 in normal blood. He indi- 

 cates that the phenomena point clearly to the liberation of some 

 substance with .acid properties in the blood. 



In view of these facts I would suggest that this substance with 

 acid properties is in all probability the nucleo-albumen of the white 

 blood corpuscles which have become dissolved in the plasma under 

 the influence of the peptone injection. The liberation of this sub- 

 stance in the blood wo aid result in a driving out of C0 2 from its 

 combination with the bases of the blood plasma, and would thus 

 account for the great diminution of the C0 2 in peptone blood. The 

 differences in this respect between Dog's and Rabbit's peptone blood 

 are in perfect agreement with the results of the enumerations given 

 above for those bloods. The hypothesis of the driving out of CO 2 by 

 a liberation of nucleo-albumen in the blood would further harmonise 

 with the increase of the tension of the C0 2 in peptone blood, and 

 also with the diminished excretion of C0 2 after peptone injections 

 (Bohr, 4 Oentralblatt f. PhysioL,' 1888). 



The fact that casein (better, perhaps, called " caseinogen," Halli- 

 burton) will drive out C0 2 from CaC0 3 constitutes an almost perfect 

 analogy with the property of driving out C0 2 which is here surmised 

 to characterise Wooldridge's cell-nbrinogen. In both cases we are 

 dealing with nucleo-albuinens. 



With respect to the coagulation which is .produced in peptone 



