JuNE 23, 1923] 
eneous system, possessing an interface; it shows 
fhat this interfane is, in fact, very much too large to 
be satisfied by the amount of oxygen which is 
actually taken up at saturation, and that therefore 
the oxygen must be held by some other means than 
adsorption. N. K, Apa. 
The University, Sheffield, 
May 24. _ 

Relation between Hemoglobin-Content and 
Surface of Red Blood-Cells. 
BurKer (Archiv fiir die gesammte Physiologie, 
excv., 1922, p. 516) has demonstrated that the 
relation between the hzmoglobin-content and the 
surface of a single red blood-cell is constant, whatever 
may be the divergencies in size and hamoglobin- 
content of the blood-cells of different animals. 
Taking as examples the rabbit, the chromocytes of 
which are of medium size, and the goat, which has 
i lal ee ek. tee 
very small red blood-cells, he gives the following 
numbers : 
100 c.c, Blood 
Single Cell. 
globin-content 
per y* Surface 
in 10-'* gm. 
Surface of one 
Blood-cell in y*? 
Average of a 
: 
Sr 
3 & 
wee 
wa 
B= 
8S 
me 
Average Hamo- 
586 | 20x 10-" gm. 
13-94 8x 10-" gm. 

1 These numbers are to be multiplied by 1-09; vide Nature, January 6, 
Now, as is already evident from the numbers given 
by Abderhalden (‘Lehrbuch der physiologischen 
Chemie ’’), the relation between the hzemoglobin- 
content of a blood-cell and its volume is also con- 
stant. In the following experiment the volume of 
the red blood-cells was determined by centrifugation 
of blood after addition of a trace of sodium fluorate. 



3 . = 2 
2y3 leas =e (1 ra BR ber |? 
SREg\*S55) sg [S8¢.| 28a] ¢ 
OSmElssg8 He, Ogt5| Sa s 
we. pea Be) De 2308 eas = 
eSs5|(SR8S es Efes] se. 1/4 
Geo ~|25.e Ss SmRex Som 3 
ES =] = pe = tlt 2 soy | &% 
Z£Ss-|5R 2h Sof Gus @ 
a — Z >= mo 

5-7 |19* 10°" gm. | 1-7 c.c. 
163 6 10-" gm. 



s 

1:5 c.c. 
a 
- 
The constant is the same in both cases. 
these two results to be reconciled ? 
One hypothesis is that the chromocytes of the goat 
have not the same shape as those of the rabbit. 
This hypothesis, however, does not seem to be satis- 
factory, because microscopic examination of the red 
blood-cells from the rabbit and the goat does not 
show an important difference in form. 
A second hypothesis is that the method of deter- 
mining the volume of the red blood-cells by centrifuga- 
tion of the blood is not trustworthy. 
The difficulty may be solved if, for example, the 
larger cells lost more water by the centrifugal force 
than the smaller ones; but this does not seem very 
probable either. 
I am specially interested in the solution of this 
problem, because I am studying the question as to 
whether the hemoglobin is distributed about the 
How are 
surface of the red blood-cell in such a way that all 
the iron is in the position that enables it to act asa 
catalyser. If we calculate how much iron can be 
NO. 2799, VOL. III] 
NATURE 
845 
placed at the surface of one human red blood-cell, it 
appears that this iron can form exactly one mono- 
molecular layer, provided that one atom of iron 
occupies a surface of 8 x 10-* cm*. If, however, all 
the hemoglobin should be placed at the surface in 
one monomolecular layer, this surface would have to 
be a hundred times greater. It seems probable that 
the surface that governs the law of Biirker must be 
the surface of all the “‘ micelles ’’ of the hemoglobin- 
solution. 
First of all, however, it ought to be definitely 
settled whether Biirker is right, when speaking of a 
“ Hamoglobinverteilungsgesetz.”’ 
E. GORTER. 
Leyden, May 7. 

A Lost Collection of Indian Sketches. 
In the Geographical Journal for March 1922, it is 
stated (p. 219) that the Indian sketches made by me 
could not be found. As these are numerous, quite 
160, made between 1852 and 1858, some details 
regarding them, their value as sketches, where and 
how they were made, may be of interest, and may 
possibly assist the authorities at Scotland Yard to 
trace them; even the discovery of one sketch might 
do so. It will also show fellows of the Royal Geo- 
graphical Society and others why I have so persistently 
directed attention to the loss. 
The sketches are not a traveller’s collection of the 
ordinary kind; they were made to illustrate the 
country I was in, and the work on which I was 
employed. I cannot take a better example than the 
very first, made after landing in Burma. It was a 
water-colour sketch of the Lake at Rangoon, from the 
stockade which then surrounded the Pagoda hill, in 
its pristine state, now known as the Royal Lakes in 
Dalhousie Park, its artificial state. This sketch also 
showed the Rangoon River and hill on which stands 
the Syriam Pagoda, and how greatly the delta of the 
Irravady differs from that of the Ganges. 
The first sketches go back to 1852, the year I 
obtained my commission and sailed for India, round 
the Cape, in a small troopship of 590 tons. Landing 
at Calcutta after a five months’ voyage, and finally 
going on to Burma, where I passed my nineteenth 
birthday, all my spare time in that country was given 
up to making a geological map. Burma was then 
practically unknown, and on being appointed A.D.C. 
to General T. Godwin, on tours of inspection I saw 
much of the country. 
This work compared well with the Geological map 
of Pegu as surveyed some years after by Messrs. W. 
Theobald, W. T. Blanford, and Feddon, only they 
were able to put an age to the formations seen; 
beyond knowing that the limestone of Akouk-thoung 
was very much the oldest, I could not. It was good 
ractice, and many years after when I was surveying 
anipur the knowledge gained was of immense 
value. 
I must explain why when so young an officer I was 
able to do this. From an early age I had had most 
unusual opportunities to learn: my father was a 
eologist, always at work, always collecting, geo- 
Ppaical friends such as Edward Forbes always in the 
house. After learning surveying at Sandhurst I 
was able to help him to make plans near home to 
illustrate a paper he was writing—'‘ On the Gravel 
Beds of the Valley of the Wey,’ Q.J. Geolog. Soc., 
vol. vii., 1857. 
I helped to make the plan ‘‘ On the Valley of the 
English Channel " (Q.J. Geolog. Soc., February 1850, 
vol. vi.), and learnt a great deal from seeing so much 
of the plans which finally illustrated the paper 
2B2 
