52 RED BLOOD-CORPUSCLES 



If the blood containing such cells is placed upon 

 a jelly containing salts, azur dye, putrid extract 

 of sheep's suprarenal gland (auxetic), andatropine, 

 some of these granular cells will be seen to be in 

 the act of division after incubation for ten minutes 

 at blood heat. But it was doubted whether this 

 division could be described as initotic or amitotic. 

 The granules were arranged in an indefinite mass 

 in the centre of the red blood-corpuscle which 

 was dividing simply into two halves. 



The investigations into this branch of the sub- 

 ject have been continued, and I propose to describe 

 the results in the present paper. It has been 

 found that if healthy erythrocytes are placed upon 

 a jelly having less salt content than normal saline 

 solution, they will lake, the haemoglobin will diffuse 

 out through the cell-walls ; and then their cyto- 

 plasm, which consists of a very finely granular 

 protoplasm, will diffuse out until a colourless bag 

 remains which is evenly distended with water, 

 and this floats on the surface of the jelly like 

 a bladder. 



It has already been shown that the protoplasm 

 of leucocytes resembles jelly and that it liquefies 

 on the death of the cell, which can be occasioned 

 by the staining of the nucleus (4). Further 

 experiments showed that red blood-corpuscles are 

 similar in these respects to leucocytes, but that 

 they, having no nuclei or centrosomes to stain, 

 cannot present such signs of death. However, 

 by varying the content of salts and stain and 

 examining the dividing granular (nucleated) ery- 

 throcytes of anaemic blood it was found possible to 

 demonstrate what appear to be centrosomes in such 



