316 



Mr. W. S. Savory on the Structure of the [Mar. 18, 



1815, July 29, to 1839, July 13. 



Bd =+ 0-00081572. 



$e =+ 0-000000334917. 



5* =— 6"-71499. 



Sir =+ 40"7H25. 



JI =— 10"-418. 



$N = + 95"-207. 



1840, March 9, to 1865, June 9. 



0-00076325. 

 Jes=+ 0-0000286012. 

 Jf>= — 2"-89008. 

 dV =— 3"'47275. 

 51 =-ll"-233. 

 5N='+38"-16. 



IV. " On the Structure of the Red Blood-corpuscle of Oviparous 

 Vertebrata." By William S. Savory, F.R.S. Received 

 February 20, 1869. 



The red blood-cell has been perhaps more frequently and fully examined 

 than any other animal structure ; certainly none has evoked such various 

 and even contradictory opinions of its nature. But without attempting 

 here any history of these, it may be shortly said that amongst the con- 

 clusions now, and for a long time past, generally accepted, a chief one is 

 that a fundamental distinction exists between the red corpuscle of Mam- 

 malia and that of the other vertebrate classes — that the red cell of the 

 oviparous vertebrata possesses a nucleus which is not to be found in the 

 corpuscle of the other class. This great distinction between the classes 

 has of late years been over and over again laid down in the strongest and 

 most unqualified terms. 



But I venture to ask for a still further examination of this important 

 subject. 



As the oviparous red cell is commonly seen, there can be no doubt whatever 

 about the existence of a "nucleus" in its interior. It is too striking an object 

 to escape any eye; but I submit that its existence is clue to the circumstances 

 under which the corpuscle is seen, and the mode in which it is prepared 

 for examination. I think it can be shown that the so-called nucleus is the 

 result of the changes which the substance of the corpuscle undergoes after 

 death (and which are usually hastened and exaggerated by exposure), and 

 the disturbance to which it is subjected in being mounted for the micro- 

 scope. When a drop of blood is prepared for examination, little or no attention 

 is given to the few seconds, more or less, which are consumed in the mani- 

 pulation. It is usually either pressed or spread out on the glass slip, and 



