342 THE BLOOD. 



detail as to the results, but simply to state that they substantiate the 

 previously known observation that, during regeneration, irregularties 

 may occur in the relation between the quantity of haemoglobin and the 

 number of erythrocytes. A considerable decrease in the number of red 

 corpuscles also occurs in chronic anaemia and chlorosis; still in such cases 

 an essential decrease in the amount of haemoglobin occurs without an 

 essential decrease in the number of blood-corpuscles. The decrease in the 

 amount of haemoglobin is more characteristic of chlorosis than a decrease 

 in the number of red corpuscles. The opinions on the changes in the 

 blood in anaemia and chlorosis differ very considerably. 1 



A very considerable decrease in the number of red corpuscles (300,000- 

 400,000 in 1 c.mm.) and diminution in the amount of haemoglobin 

 (J- T V) occurs in pernicious anaemia (HAYEM, LAACHE, and others 2 ). 

 On the contrary, the individual red corpuscles are larger and richer in 

 haemoglobin than they ordinarily are, and the number stands in an inverse 

 relation to the amount of haemoglobin (HAYEM). Besides this the red 

 corpuscles often, but not always, show in pernicious anaemia remarkable 

 and extraordinary irregularities of form and size, which has been termed 

 poikilocytosis. 



The number of leucocytes may, as stated above, be increased under 

 physiological conditions as well as after a meal rich in protein (physiological 

 leucocytosis) . Under pathological conditions a high leucocytosis may 

 occur, and this is especially found in leucaemia, which is characterized 

 by a very great abundance of leucocytes in the blood. The number of 

 leucocytes is markedly increased in this disease, and indeed, not only 

 absolutely, but also in relation to the number of red blood-corpuscles, 

 which are diminished to a considerable extent in leucaemia. Leucaemic 

 blood has a lower specific gravity than the ordinary blood (1035-1040), 

 and a paler color, as if it were mixed with pus. The reaction is alkaline, 

 but after death it is frequently acid, probably due to a decomposition 

 of lecithin, which is often considerably increased in leucaemia. Volatile 

 fatty acids, lactic acid, glycero-phosphoric acid, large amounts of purine 

 bases, and so-called CHARCOT'S crystals (see Semen, Chapter XII) have 

 also been found in leucaemic blood. The peptone (proteose) which is 

 found in the leucaemic blood after death, and which does not exist in 

 the fresh blood, is, according to ERBEN, 3 a digestive product which is 



1 Complete analyses of chlorotic blood may be found in Erben, Zeitschr. f. klin. 

 Med., 47. 



2 Laache, Die Anamie (Christiania, 1883), which also contains the older liter- 

 ature. A complete chemical analysis of the blood has been made by Erben, Zeitschr. 

 f. klin. Med., 40. 



3 Erben, Zeitschr. f. Heilkunde, 24, and Hofmeister's Beitrage, 5. See also Schumm, 

 ibid., 4 and 5. See also footnote 3, page 342. 



