THE BLOOD 205 



original number of corpuscles is not reached for about a fort- 

 night, and hence it has been concluded that the corpuscles 

 live for that period. The experiment, however, is far from 

 conclusive, and must be accepted with reservation. 



Organs Connected with Haemolysis. The process of 

 breaking down old erythrocytes and eliminating their pig- 

 ment is often called the process of haemolysis. Certain 

 organs appear to be specially connected with this, but the 

 precise part played by each of them is not very clearly 

 understood. 



That the liver acts in this way is indicated, first, by the 



FIG. 104. To show the relationship of the Spleen to Lymph Glands and 

 Hsemolymph Glands. The black indicates Lymphoid Tissue ; the 

 coarsely spotted part Lymph Sinuses, and the finely dotted part 

 Blood Sinuses. (LEWIS.) 



fact that the blood passing from the organ during digestion 

 contains fewer erythrocytes than the blood going to it; 

 second, by the formation of bile pigment, a derivative of 

 haemoglobin, in the liver cells; third, by the presence of 

 pigment and of iron in simple combinations in the liver cells 

 under certain conditions. It is possible that the reabsorbed 

 salts of the bile acids in the portal blood may dissolve the 

 pigment out of the old erythrocytes, and that the liver cells 

 may then act upon the liberated pigment. Under ordinary 

 conditions the liver does not store much iron. 



The spleen is generally said to have a similar action. This 

 organ is composed of a fibrous capsule containing non-striped 



