488 THE BLOOD. 



The amount of water in blood varies from 730 to 815 

 parts in 1000; it is in excess in ill-fed animals, and its 

 quantity varies in disease. 



The albumen of the blood, similar in nature to the white 

 of eggs, is met with in the blood in the proportion of six to 

 nine per cent. Schmidt found in a horse that had been 

 starved long before death, that the amount was 6 '68 per 

 cent., but in a horse well fed up to the time of death, the 

 proportion was 9 '08 per cent. According to Lehmann, 

 venous blood contains more albumen than arterial. Simon 

 found the albumen increased in quantity in the blood of 

 glandered horses. 



Fibrin appears very bulky in clotted blood, but if dried 

 and weighed it is found only to the extent of from 3 to 4 parts 

 in 1000. Young animals have more fibrin in their blood than 

 old, and there is more in arterial than venous blood. It in- 

 creases in febrile and inflammatory diseases, but is rarely 

 below the normal quantity. According to Delafond it may 

 amount to twice and thrice the proportion in health, in 

 inflammation of important organs in the horse, and in 

 glanders. 



The fats are dissolved in the serum, and also enter into 

 the composition of the corpuscles. Simon found 5*59 in 

 1000 parts of blood in the ox, 4'191 in the calf, and 173 in 

 the horse. They vary according to the manner in which the 

 animal is fed. Blood always contains a small quantity of 

 sugar, especially in the hepatic veins. 



The blood corpuscles are composed of cruor, or blood red, 

 with probably coagulated albumen. Cruor consists of glo- 

 bulin and hsematin. The latter is the red colouring principle 

 of blood, soluble in water. It contains about lO'lol per cent, 

 of oxide of iron, on which, at one time, the colour . of blood 



