110 ORIGIN OF COLORED BLOOD-CORPUSCLES. 



to the old idea that a red globule is nothing but a mass of protoplasm contain- 

 ing haemoglobine within its meshes ; for the elaboration of this subject I refer 

 to the researches of L. Elsberg. 



The organs that I have used in these investigations are the lymphatic 

 ganglia of man, horse, and cat, the spleen of man and cat, as well as the tonsil 

 and thymus gland of children. The characteristics of the adenoid tissue were 

 found to be the same in all, the principal differences being in the proportion 

 of red to white globules. In the tonsil and lymphatic ganglia, the red are 

 very scanty, though they can be found in most fields ; but in the spleen they 

 are far more frequent. In this organ, like the rest, the corpuscles are formed 

 by the development of the granules of the net-work within the frame, and not 

 by budding of the eiidothelial plates, as claimed by some. We are now ready 

 to give the reason for the lymph of the efferent vessels containing so many 

 more corpuscles than that of the afferent, as well as to say where the few red 

 globules that are found in the lymph of the thoracic duct come from. The 

 lymph stream, as it passes through each successive ganglion, carries along an 

 increased number of the fully grown elements that have become detached 

 from the parent fiber, and eventually empties them into this duct, through 

 which they reach the blood. 



In answering these questions, we are also giving the function of the ade- 

 noid tissue, which is to produce the corpuscular elements of the blood. 



It has been known for a long time that as age advances the adenoid tissue 

 becomes more and more scarce, and that the mucous layers and other organs 

 that were once so rich in it, at extreme old age present scarcely a trace. In 

 reality, the thymus gland may be taken as the type of the whole class. For 

 while their degeneration is by no means so rapid, still they all show a tendency 

 to follow its example. This is most strikingly shown in the history of Peyer's 

 patches, as has been brought out by the study of typhoid fever. From this 

 we would conclude that a young animal is the best subject for the study of the 

 adenoid tissue. This I can testify is the case, for as age advances the gran- 

 ules of the reticulum within the fibers become more scanty, and the retic- 

 ulum itself is by no means so rich as in the early days of life. Should it ever 

 be conclusively proved that the white blood-corpuscles share in the formation 

 or repair of the structures of the body, we would then have the complete 

 chain of their history ; for we are now sure that they represent only one stage 

 of a development that is going on as long as life lasts, and I am not inclined 

 to believe that this stage is the highest of the series. 



The conclusions that I have drawn from these studies are : 



1st. We must have more and better proof before we can believe that a 

 lymph-corpuscle ever arises from a blastema. 



2d. That both red and white blood-corpuscles are developed from the gran- 

 ules of the reticulum of living matter within the fibers of all adenoid tissues. 



3d. That in different organs there is a difference in the proportion of red 

 to white globules that are produced. 



4th. That the adenoid tissue is myxomatous, and, properly speaking, a 

 remnant of foatal life. 



5th. That this tissue is stored-up material, from which the blood-corpuscles 

 are made throughout life. 



6th. That it is highly probable that the exhaustion of this material plays 

 an important part in senile atrophy, and the other torpid conditions of the 

 aged. 



