ON THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF THE 

 NUCLEI OF BLOOD COEPUSCLES. 



A Eeseaech caeeied oy in Peofessor Kuhne's Laboeatoey, in Amstee- 



DAil, IN THE WiNTEE OF 186S-69. 



("Reprinted from The Journal of Anatomy and Physiology for Noveiaber, 1869.) 



DUKING the course of last summer (1868) Professor Kiihne dis- 

 covered that the chief constituent of the nuclei of blood corpuscles 

 agreed in its reactions with mucin rather than fibrin or albumen. 

 It had previously been found by Hoppe-Seyler * associated in 

 tlie nuclei with a small amount of paragiobulin, and, previous to 

 Professor Kiihne's discovery, had been supposed to be an albu- 

 minous substance, resembling fibrin. I was informed by Pro- 

 fessor Kiihne, while v/orking in his laboratory in Amsterdam, 

 of the observations he had already made, and having repeated 

 them, I publish the result with his permission. The observa- 

 tions are not complete, but I give them now, as I am unable to 

 prosecute them further at present. 



The nuclei of the blood corpuscles of eels and frogs yield a 

 substance similar to that obtained from the blood of fowls ; 

 but as the latter could be much more readily obtained in con- 

 siderable quantity, it alone was used in studying the reactions 

 in detail. 



To obtain the nuclei, the defibrinated blood, mixed with ten 

 or twelve times its volume of NaCl solution of 3 per cent., is 

 filtered through linen, and the corpuscles allowed to subside in 

 a flat tray. The supernatant fluid is then removed by a syphon, 

 and the corpuscles, thus freed from serum, are either Avashed 

 repeatedly with much water in the same manner, or after being 

 allowed to settle in the salt solution for at least twenty-four 

 hours, when they form a kind of film, are scraped together, and 

 washed on a linen filter. In the former case, the nuclei or 



• Kiiline, Lehrhuch der Physiol ogiscJien Chemie, 



L 2 



