520 THE PHYSIOLOGY OF REPRODUCTION 



III. The Changes in the Maternal Tissues during 

 Pregnancy 



The changes in the ovaries, the mammae, and the mucous 

 membrane of the uterus are dealt with elsewhere. To ' the 

 changes in some of the other organs, a brief consideration is 

 here given. 



a. The Blood. — Bhrhch's ^ statement that pregnancy does 

 not appreciably alter the number of the red blood corpuscles 

 has been more or less firmly estabKshed by Ingerslev,^ Dubner,^ 

 Bernhard * and others in Man, by Spiegelberg and Gscheidlen * 

 in the dog, and by Cohnstein * in the sheep. Their investi- 

 gations have upset the older theory of a hydrsemia of pregnancy. 



There is evidence of a shght increase of haemoglobin (Payer,' 

 Fehhng,^ Winckeknann,* Wild ^°), especially towards the end of 

 pregnancy. 



The number of leucocytes increases during pregnancy, and 

 there is a further rise during the act of parturition (Nasse,^^ 

 Lebedeii,^^ Rieder ^^). The leucocytosis is referred by some to 



' Ehrlich, " Die Anamien," in Nofchnagel's Spezielle Pathologie. 



' Ingerslev, " Ueber die Menge der roten Blutkorperchen bei Schwangeren," 

 Gentralbl.f. Gynak., 1879. 



^ Dubner, " Untersuchungen iiber den Hanaogloblngehalfc des Elutes," &o., 

 Miinch. med. Woch., 1890. 



* Bernhard, " Untersuchungen iiber Hamoglobingehalt und Blutkorper- 

 chenzahl in der letzten Zeit der Schwangerschaft," Miinch. med. Woch., 

 1892. 



* Spiegelberg and Gscheidlen, " Untersuchungen iiber die Blntmenge 

 trachtiger Hunde," Arch.f. Oeburtsh. u. Gynak., vol. iv. 



' Cohnstein," Blutveranderungen wahrend der Schwangerschaft," P/iige»-'s 

 Arch., vol. xxxiv., 1884. 



' Payer, vide v. Winckel's Handbuch der Geburtshillfe, vol. i., H. 1. 



' Fehling, "Ueber Blutbeschaffenheit," &c., Arch. f. Gynak., vol. xxviii., 

 1886. 



' Winckelmann, " Hamoglobin-Bestimmungen bei Schwangeren und 

 Wochnerinnen, Inaug. Diss., Heidelberg, 1888. 



1" Wild, " Untersuchungen iiber den Hamoglobingehalt und die Anzahl 

 der roten und weissen Blutkorperchen bei Schwangeren," Arch. f. Gynak., 

 vol. liii. 



11 Nasse, Das Blut, Bonn, 1836. 



12 Lebedefif, quoted in v. Winckel's Handbuch der Geburtshillfe., vo\. i., H. 1. 

 1' Rieder, Beitrage zur Kenntnis der Leukocytose und veriuandter Zu- 



stande des Blutes, Leipzig, 1S92. 



