HEMOGLOBIN CRYSTALS 



99 



characterised by its property of crystallising more or less 

 readily. If a little rat's or dog's blood, from which the 

 fibrin has been removed (see p. Ill) be shaken up with a 

 small quantity of ether, it loses its opacity and becomes 

 quite transparent in thin layers, or as it is often called 

 'laky.' The transparency results from the discharge of 

 the haemoglobin from the stroma into the neighbouring 

 fluid, in which it is now in solution. If the vessel con- 



FiG. 32. — Crystals of H.emoglobin. (After Funke.) 

 a, squiiTel ; b, gfuinea-pig ; c, cat or dog ; d, mau ; e, hamster. 



taining the laky blood be allowed to stand on ice for some 

 hours, a sediment usually forms at the bottom, and will 

 be found in a successful experiment, when examined with 

 the microscope, to consist chiefly of blood-crystals. 

 The crystals differ in shape according to the animal from 

 whose blood they were obtained ; in man they have the 



H 2 



