Hcsmoglobincsmia. — Azotemia. — Etc. 445 



iug the healthy functions of lungs, kidneys, brain or muscle, and 

 would unfit the globules for successful resistance to solvents and 

 other inimical influences. 



Again it is an important function of the liver, spleen and red 

 bone marrow to disintegrate worn out or abnormal red globules. 

 These are taken up by the white blood corpuscles of the hepatic 

 capillaries, by the cells of the spleen and the bone marrow and 

 are stored up chiefly in the capillaries of the liver, in the spleen, 

 and in the marrow of bone. Thev are transformed, partly into 

 colored and partly into colorless proteids, and are either deposited 

 in the granular form, or are dissolved (Ivandois). Quincke says: 

 " That the normal red blood globules and other particles sus- 

 pended in the blood stream are not taken up in this way, may be 

 due to their being smooth and polished. As the corpuscles grow 

 older and become more rigid, they, as it were, are caught b}' the 

 amoeboid cells. As cells containing l:)lood corpu.scles are ver}'^ 

 rare!}' found in the general circulation, one may assume that the 

 occurrence of these cells within the spleen, liver, and marrow of 

 bone, is favored by the slowness of the circulation in these 

 organs." From this chain of normal processes of blood disinte- 

 gration, we may reasonably infer, a greath' exaggerated work of 

 blood destruction when, in connection with an increased density 

 of the plasma, and the presence in the portal blood of poi.sonous 

 products of digestion, the red globules have been altered in 

 density, in outline and in vitality, so that they become ready 

 victims of the amoeboid cells of blood and tissues. Then the 

 .stagnant condition of this altered blood in the compulsorily idle 

 animal favors the greatest excess of this destruction and the 

 storing up of an increased quantity of haemoglobin and other 

 products, to be poured suddenlj^ into the general circulation as 

 soon as the movement of the blood is quickened by exercise. 



This destruction of the red blood globules by disintegration 

 contributes to the formation of numerous decomposition-products, 

 like succinic, formic, acetic, butric and lactic acids, inosit, leucin, 

 xanthin, hypoxanthin, and uric acid, .some of which are strongly 

 toxic. The tendency will be to lower the vitalitj' of the red 

 globules and thus to render them the easier victims of the leu- 

 cocytes and of the liver, spleen and marrow cells. Even the freed 

 haemoglobin appears to exert a solvent action on the red blood 



