FUNCTIONS OF THE LIVER. 



333 



ing does not, as we have previously said, require an increase 

 of the quantity of blood distributed to an organ. A striking 

 confirmation of this fact occurs in the following lines of Pro- 

 fessor Foster's: "The pathway of the blood through the splenic 

 reticulum is peculiar; and increase or decrease in the volume 

 of the spleen means more or less blood held in the spleen- 

 pulp, not necessarily a greater or less flow of blood through 

 the organ." 



That the organ is concerned with some process incident 

 upon blood-changes is evident. But what is this process? The 

 various points that may afford a clue are these: red blood- 

 corpuscles have been found in various stages of disorganization 

 in the organ, but in the interior of amoeboid cells buried in the 

 pulp. The spleen-pulp also contains an albuminoid proteid 

 rich in iron, and a pigment which shows considerable carbon. 

 That an active combustion process may go on in the organ is 

 suggested not only by the latter, but also by the presence of 

 various purin bases: xanthin, hypoxanthin, and their end- 

 product, uric acid. Various other acids acetic, butyric, 

 formic, succinic, lactic, etc. are also found in relatively large 

 quantities. This appears suggestive when we consider if our 

 views are sound the large quantity of oxidizing substance that 

 must course through the organ especially during post-prandial 

 activity. 



The spleen also seems to be a leucocytogenic center, since 

 the splenic vein contains a much larger proportion of leuco- 

 cytes than the splenic artery. But as these leucocytes leave 

 the organ through the splenic vein, and ultimately, therefore, 

 reach the liver through the portal, they must either be con- 

 nected with some function in the liver or be destroyed there. 

 Again, the arterial blood has been found to lose one-half of its 

 red corpuscles; at least, blood from the spleen contains one- 

 half of those found in the blood of the splenic arteries. 

 Coupled with the finding of disorganized remnants of these 

 bodies in the splenic pulp, this certainly suggests, as is gen- 

 erally believed, that red blood-disks are disintegrated and white 

 corpuscles created in the spleen. Indeed, the portal blood is 

 poor in red disks. Yet, the hepatic vein is still poorer in them 

 in the sense that the proportion of red to white cells is as 



