THE BLOOD AND THE LYMPH 



called red corpuscles. They are about one thirty-two 

 hundredth of an inch in diameter, and so numerous that 

 a single small drop contains about five millions of them. 

 We also find white corpuscles, a little larger than the red, 

 but they are not nearly as numerous. 



1111 



Reef corpuscles 



Mite corpuscles 



FIG. 4. Human blood corpuscles (Zinns). 



The colorless liquid in which the corpuscles float 

 about is called plasma. Plasma is water containing in 

 solution the foods that have been changed into blood and 

 also the wastes of tJie cells. 



What are the corpuscles for ? The red corpuscles are 

 very numerous and surely must be of great value. // is 

 tJie red corpuscles that have the power to carry oxygen from 

 tJie lungs to all the cells of the body. This is their only 

 use, and an important office it is. They are busy day 

 and night, doing all they can to keep the cells supplied 

 with oxygen. We know that a fire in a stove or a fur- 



