On Blood-Platelets. 



45? 



Fig. 3 refers to an experiment on three rats in which a minimal amount of 

 vitamin B was supplied. The amount given was sufficient to prevent a fall 



IQOUmm, i ri— i I I I 



/ 4- 8 WEEKS 



X* EYE LESION 

 VlTAMINC A PRCSCNT V IT AMINE A ABSENT 



Fig. 3. — Effect of restricting the water-soluble vitamin B to a minimum. Two rats, 

 Nos. 398 and 399, received no fat soluble vitamin, and developed the typical eye 

 lesion. The third rat, No. 397, received an abundant supply of vitamin A, and 

 remained well. 



Table to Fig. 3. 



No. of 

 Rat. 



Weeks 



of 

 experi- 

 ment. 



Vitamins 

 supplied. 



Red cells. 



Platelets. 



Condition of rat. 



398 

 399 



;i 



A absent, 

 minimal 

 supply of B 



C 9,680,000 

 L 9,400,000 



230,000 

 330,000 



Xerophthalmia ; died 

 two days later of 

 pneumonia. 



Xerophthalmia. 



397 

 Control 



7 



Ample supply 

 of A, 

 minimal 

 supply of B. 



10,400,000 



960,000 



Has not grown, but 

 healthy appearance. 



of temperature, but was not sufficient to enable the animals to grow. Two of 

 the three animals, Nos. 398 and 399, received no vitamin A, and they rapidly 

 developed the typical eye lesion, although their weight was over 100 grm. 

 when the experiment began. A third animal, No. 397, received an ample 

 supply of the vitamin A, and served as control. It did not grow, but remained 

 in good health otherwise. In this rat the number of platelets remained 

 normal, while the other two rats developed an intense thrombopenia. Further 

 evidence that the absence of vitamin B does not markedly affect the platelets 

 will be given below. 



Perhaps the most striking evidence of the relationship between the fat- 



