124 THE COLOURLESS CORPUSCLES OF THE BLOOD. [BOOK I. 



important steps in establishing the analogy between the sarcode of the lowest 

 animals and the substance of the cells composing animals of higher grades. 



Another interesting property of white blood corpuscles is that of 

 enveloping and absorbing small particles of colouring matter, such as carmine, 

 with which they are in contact. 



The members of the second class, the intermediate corpuscles, are less 

 clearly denned than the amoeboid corpuscles ; and for a full description of 

 all their varieties, the reader is referred to the larger text-books and 

 memoirs on the Histology of the Blood. But among them must be 

 mentioned some which seem to have a great importance in the phenomenon 

 of coagulation. These are described by Semmer under the name of red 

 granular corpuscles (rothe Komerkugel 1 ), and by Hayem 2 under the name 

 of haematoblasts. According to Semmer, who examined the blood of the 

 horse and other mammals, the granular red intermediate corpuscles are 

 nucleated granular bodies, the granules largely obscuring the nucleus. They 

 have about the same specific gravity as the white corpuscles ; hence they 

 subside in the uncoagulated plasma more slowly than the common red 

 corpuscles. They possess the power of amoeboid movement.- They become 

 colourless and readily disintegrate during the act of coagulation ; and the 

 detritus appears to be soluble in the plasma. The disintegrating corpuscles 

 iu many cases form centres for the radiation of threads of fibrin through the 

 coagulating liquor sanguinis (refer to p. 35, and fig. 10). 



The number of the white corpuscles, though less than that of the red, 

 varies with the many conditions of age, sex, period after food and region 

 from which the specimen of blood was taken. On an average there is one 

 white corpuscle to 330 or 350 red ones. 



The proportion is 3 



In boys 1 to 226 



girls 1 to 389 



men 1 to 346 



old men 1 to 381 



menstruating women . . . 1 to 247 



pregnant women . . . . 1 to 281 



the morning fasting state . . 1 to 716 



Half an hour after breakfast . . 1 to 347 f 



Three hours after breakfast . . . 1 to 1514 

 In splenic vein . . . . . - 1 to 60 



splenic artery . . . . . 1 to 2260 



hepatic vein . . . . . 1 to 170 



portal vein. . . . ... 1 to 740. 



Our knowledge of the physical and chemical characters of the 

 colourless corpuscles is for obvious reasons very much more defective 

 than that of the coloured corpuscles. 



1 Alex. Schmidt, "Ueber die Beziehung der Faserstoffgerinnung zu den korperlichen 

 Elementen des Blutes." Pt. 2. Pfliiger's Archiv /. d. ges. Physiol. Vol. xi. (1875) p. 560. 



2 Georges Hayeni, Eecherches sur Vanatomie normals et patholoaique du sang. p. 108. 

 Paris, 1878. 



3 The above figures are taken from Strieker's Handbook. Art. "Blood," by Alex. 

 Rollett. 



