556 THE PHYSIOLOGY OF REPRODUCTION 



for carbohydrates which suggests that carbohydrate material is 

 essential for growth. 1 There is further the hypertrophy of the liver 

 which has been observed in tumour-bearing animals 2 as in pregnant 

 animals. 3 This close analogy suggests that perhaps the physiological 

 acidosis of pregnancy may occur in cancer, and that the diminished 

 C0 2 pressure in the alveolar air, which is such a very early indication 

 of this acidosis in pregnancy, might also be found comparatively early 

 in cancer. 



III. THE CHANGES IN THE MATERNAL TISSUES DURING PREGNANCY 



The changes in the ovaries, the mammae, and the mucous 

 membrane of the uterus are dealt with elsewhere. To the changes in 

 some of the other organs, a brief consideration is here given. 



(a.) The Blood. -Ehrlich's 4 statement that pregnancy does not 

 appreciably alter the number of the red blood corpuscles has been 

 more or less firmly established by Ingerslev, 5 'Dubner, 6 Bernhard 7 

 and others in man, by Spiegelberg and Gscheidlen 8 in the dog, and 

 by Cohnstein 9 in the sheep. Their investigations have upset the 

 older theory of a hydrse.mia of pregnancy. 



There is evidence of a slight increase of haemoglobin (Payer, 10 

 Fehling, 11 Winckeluianri, 12 Wild 13 ), especially towards the end of 

 pregnancy. 



The number of leucocytes increases during pregnancy, and there 

 is a further rise during the act of parturition (Nasse, 14 Lebedeff, 15 

 Rieder 10 ). The leucocytosis is referred by some to the lymphoid 



1 Cramer and Lochhead, "Contributions to the Biochemistry of Growth," 

 Proc. Roy. Soc., vol. Ixxxvi., 1913. 



2 Medigreceanu, " Ueber die Grosseverhaltnisse einiger der wichtigsten 

 Organe bei Tumortragenden Ratten u. Mausen," Berl. klin. Wochenschrift, 1910. 



3 Herring, loc. cit. 



4 Ehrlich, " Die Anamien," in Nothnagel's Spezielle Pathologic. 



5 Ingerslev, " Ueber die Menge der roten Blutkorperchen bei Schwangeren," 

 Centralbl. f. Gyndk., 1879. 



6 Dubner, " Untersuchungen iiber den Hamoglobingehalt des Blutes, etc.," 

 Miinch. med. Woch., 1890. 



7 Bernhard, " Untersuchungen iiber Hamoglobingehalt und Blutkorper- 

 chenzahl in der letzten Zeit der Schwangerschaft," Miinch. med. Woch., 1892. 



8 Spiegelberg and Gscheidlen, "Untersuchungen iiber die Blutmenge 

 trachtiger Hunde," Arch.f. Geburtsh. u. Gyndk., vol. iv. 



9 Cohnstein, " Blutveranderungen wahrend der Schwangerschaft," PJliigers 

 Arch., vol. xxxiv., 1884. 



10 Payer, vide v. Winckel's Handbuch der Geburtshiilfe, v.ol. i., H. 1. 



11 Fehling, "Ueber Blutbeschaflenheit, etc.," Arch.f. Gyndk., vol. xxviii., 1886. 



12 Winckelmann, " Hamoglobin-Bestimmungen bei Schwangeren und Woch- 

 nerinnen," Inaua. Diss., Heidelberg, 1888. 



13 Wild, " Untersuchungen iiber den Hamoglobingehalt und die Anzahl der 

 roten und weissen Blutkorperchen bei Schwangeren," Arch.f. Gyntik., vol. liii. 



14 Nasse, Das Blut, Bonn, 1836. 



15 Lebedeff, quoted in v. Winckel's Handbuch der Geburtshiilfe, vol. i., H. 1. 



16 Bieder, Beitrdge zur Kenntnis der Leukocytose und verwandter Zustande des 

 Blutes, Leipzig, 1892. 



