156 ANIMAL PHYSIOLOGY. 
self upon the disorganization that constitutes its dying, lecithin, 
protagon, and other extractives. 
The prominent chemical fact connected with the red corpus- 
cles is their being composed in great part of a peculiar colored 
proteid compound containing iron. 
This will be fully considered later; but, in the mean time, we 
may state that the hemoglobin is itself infiltrated into the 
meshes or framework (stroma) of the corpuscle, which latter 
seems to be composed of a member of the globulin class, so well 
characterized by solubility in weak saline solutions. 
The following tabular statement represents the relative pro- 
portions in 100 parts of the dried organic matter of the red cor- 
puscles: 
Haamoglopins s00vc caves eanie vs Verde ces ees 90°54 
Proteids ac sass deve cages eeeeneavnees oes eoe 8°67 
Lecithin os cee see jee dees wna ex waa 0°54 
OhOlésterittscaisiig ens taniedeee dae sed aw recs 0°25 
100°00 
The quantity of salts is very small, less than one per cent 
(inorganic). 
So much for the results of our analyses; but when we con- 
sider the part the blood plays in the economy of the body, it 
must appear that, since the life-work of every cell expresses it- 
self through this fluid, both as to what it removes and what it 
adds, the blood can not for any two successive moments be of 
precisely the same composition; yet the departures from a nor- 
mal standard must be kept within very narrow limits, other- 
wise derangement or. possibly death results. We think that, 
before we have concluded the study of the various organs of 
the body, it will appear to the student, as it does to the writer, 
that it is highly probable that there are great numbers of com- 
pounds in the blood, either. of a character unknown as yet to 
our chemistry, or in such small quantity that they elude detec- 
tion by our methods; and we may add that we believe the 
same holds for all the fluids of the body. The complexity of 
vital processes is great beyond our comprehension. 
It must be especially borne in mind that all the pabulum 
for every cell, however varied its needs, can be derived from 
the blood alone; or, as we shall show presently, strictly speak- 
ing from the lymph, a sort of middle-man between the blood 
and the tissues. ' 
The Quantity and the Distribution of the Blood.—Any attempt 
