THE LEUCOCYTES IN ORGANIC FUNCTIONS. . 685 



series of catabolic products. This awakens an important patho- 

 logical feature. We have seen that, when nucleo-proteids un- 

 dergo cleavage in the organism, the process involved must be 

 brought to a finish: i.e., to the stage of phosphoric-acid forma- 

 tion. The penalty, if completion does not attend the series of 

 reactions, is the presence, in the blood-stream, of the above- 

 mentioned purin bases, which are now considered, we have seen, 

 as the source of the so-called "gouty diathesis." Slight insuf- 

 ficiency of the adrenal system, therefore, by reducing the pro- 

 portion of oxidizing substance in the blood, must inhibit the 

 intracellular reactions that we have just outlined, thus giving 

 rise to this disorder. Or the injudicious use of rich foods, by 

 surcharging the proportion of nucleo-proteids taken up by the 

 cells, may lead to the same result though the normal proportion 

 of oxidizing substance be 'present in the plasma. 



Another phenomenon which appears to us elucidated by 

 the presence of the oxidizing substance of the plasma is the 

 manner in which worn-out leucocytes are destroyed. As fre- 

 quently observed by histologists, each of the varieties may be 

 seen at a given time to become "oxyphile," or oxygen-loving, 

 and to undergo disintegration. Even the eosinophile leuco- 

 cytes, which, according to Metchnikoff, 15 are unable "to inglobe 

 foreign bodies, and therefore cannot act as phagocytes," are 

 destroyed by oxidation. The affinity of these cells for acid dyes 

 might account for their oxidation, however, and suggest a limit; 

 but such a limit does not exist, for basophile cells also yield 

 to the same agency. Indeed, Gulland, referring to a figure in 

 his colored plate which gives a vivid illustration of a cell un- 

 dergoing disintegration, describes it as follows: "Degenerated 

 basophile cell from the mesentery of newt. Methylene-blue." 

 In other words, an eosinophile is always acidophile, while a 

 basophile is only acidophile when it is dead or about to die. 

 We have seen that .methylene-blue stains oxygen-laden media; 

 hence, the oxidizing substance is evidently the active factor in 

 the destructive process. 



It seems to us that we can conclude from the above data 

 regarding the physiological chemistry of leucocytes, or white 

 blood-corpuscles, that: 



Metchnikoff: Loc. cit., p. 115. 



