56 RED BLOOD-CORPUSCLES 



It has already been shown (1) that in cancerous 

 cachexia and in many conditions of anaemia the 

 blood-cells show a lowered coefficient of diffusion. 

 It has also been observed that extracts of dead 

 tissues when mixed directly with blood-cells causes 

 them in a like manner to show a lowered coefficient 

 of diffusion. Experiments with blood-cells in 

 several diseases, i.e. the secondary anaemias of 

 malaria, endemic cirrhosis of the liver, trypanoso- 

 miasis in mammals, the anaemia of guinea-pigs 

 accompanying infection with the lymphocytozoon 

 of Hunter and Goldhorn indeed, any disease pro- 

 ducing secondary anaemia in mammals show that 

 the reduction of the coefficient of diffusion accom- 

 panying such anaemias is also accompanied by an 

 increase in the number of granular cells ; also 

 there is an increase in their individual granulation 

 until a stage is reached when the cells are packed 

 with granules in a compact body such cells, when 

 fixed and stained by the Romano wsky, Jenner, or 

 Irishman's stain, show the well-known characters 

 of the nucleated red blood-corpuscle. If such 

 cells are placed on auxetic jelly, as that described 

 above, these highly granular cells will develop cen- 

 trosomes and will divide into two, three, four, or 

 six daughter cells according to their size, the degree 

 of anaemia, and the amount of auxetic diffused 

 into them during the experimental ten minutes' 

 incubation. If there is much alkali solution 

 present in the jelly and the auxetic diffuses very 

 rapidly into the cells, some of them may show 

 asymmetrical divisions in consequence. 



A study of the phenomena of division induced 

 in red blood-corpuscles in the secondary anaemias 



