372 MANUAL OF PHYSIOLOGY. 



From the characters of the blood flowing from the spleen it 

 has been argued that, besides an enormous production of white 

 corpuscles, the destruction of the red disks goes on, while some 

 new disks are formed, probably by means of the white cells 

 making haemoglobin in their protoplasm, which, gradually dis- 

 appearing, leaves only the red mass of haemoglobin. 



The increased activity of the spleen after meals, and in certain 

 abnormal states of the blood, as shown by its containing more 

 blood, distinctly points out that some form of blood elaboration 



FIG. 163. 



Section of Spleen through a lymph follicle (Malpighian body) (a) injected to show the 

 vessel ; (c) entering the follicle, the lymphoid tissue of which is pale in comparison with 

 the pulp (&), the meshes of which are filled with injection. (Cadiat.) 



goes on in it, which is nearly related to or associated with nutri- 

 tion. 



The swelling of the lymphatic glands after extirpation of the 

 spleen confirms its relation to these organs, and the fact is undis- 

 puted that it is a source of the white corpuscles of the blood ; 

 but the paucity of evidence after this operation as to changes in 

 the number or character of the red disks proves that, if the 

 spleen be either the place of origin or destruction of the red 

 corpuscles, it cannot be the only organ in which they are pro- 

 duced or destroyed. 



