CHAPTEK LXXIX 



DEFENSE BY WHITE CORPUSCLES 



ONE-EIGHTH the weight of a man is blood. 

 Taking the average weight of adult men to be 160 

 pounds, the average man has 20 pounds of blood. 



In every cubic millimeter, or drop, of this 

 blood are four million red corpuscles, and ten 

 thousand white corpuscles. At this rate, the blood 

 of the average weight man contains 32,500,000,- 

 000,000 red corpuscles, and 81,250,000,000 white 

 corpuscles. 



The Reds are spheres flattened at the poles so as 

 to be biconcave discs. Their longer diameter is 

 about TsW P ar ^ f an * nc h 5 their shorter ToW part. 

 Fig. 104. 



The Whites are about three times as large as the 

 Reds, and each one is, comparatively, a perfect 

 sphere. Fig. 105. 



The Reds do great work for the body. They con- 

 stitute one-half the blood. They give to the blood 

 its red color. They circulate with the blood. As 

 the digested food is poured into the blood stream, 

 they each seize a particle, carrying it to all needed 

 points in the body. Circulating in the blood 

 through the lungs, as each breath draws into those 

 organs a fresh supply of oxygen, the Reds seize 



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