On Blood- Platelets. 459 



Table to Fig. 4. 



No. of 

 rat. 



Deficiency or 

 recovery. 



Red cells. 



Platelets. 



Condition of rat. 



244 



Recovery, 

 5 weeks 

 7 weeks 



10,440,000 

 10,000,000 



480 000 



TUw www 



710,000 

 820,000 





250 



Deficiency 



Deficiency 

 Recovery, 

 1 week 

 3 weeks 



9,280,000 



10,080,000 



8 000 000 

 9,960,000 



300,000 

 220,000 

 490 000 



TJ£7 W , W W W 



997,000 



Xerophthalmia, bacteria in 



blood. 

 Xerophthalmia worse. 



-iJ > CO 1111 IJ1 \J ' 111 li • 



Cured. 



251 



Deficiency 

 Recovery, 

 2 weeks 



7,560,000 

 8,360 : 000 



480,000 

 995,000 





273 



Deficiency 

 Recovery, 

 2 weeks 

 4 weeks 



6,720,000 



9,720,000 

 9,760,000 



154,000 



550,000 

 980,000 



Xerophthalmia. 

 Eyes cured. 



274 



Deficiency 

 Recovery, 

 1 week 



10,320,000 

 10,560,000 



380,000 

 870,000 



Xerophthalmia. 

 Eyes cured. 



386 



Deficiency 



Recovery, 

 2 weeks 



8,120,000 

 6,800,000 



217,000 

 522,000 



Intense xerophthalmia, 

 abscess in neck. 



Looks thin and ill ; xeroph- 

 thalmia had almost cleared 

 up ; abscess still present, 

 but improving. 



weight curve also indicates. The platelet count showed only a slow rise from 

 217,000 to 522,000 after two weeks. 



Effect of Vitamin A Deficiency on the Heel Cells. — The Tables show that, in 

 the majority of cases, there is no distinct reduction in the number of red cells, 

 even when the platelets are greatly diminished and the animal is in a typical 

 condition of A deficiency. Occasionally, however, an anaemia develops. Eats 

 Nos. 384 and 273 have a distinct ansemia with a red count between 6,000,000 

 and 7,000,000. These animals also had the most profound thrombopenia. 

 Eat 386 is of interest because it developed an antenna, not while the vitamin A 

 was withheld, but later on when it was supplied again. It will be recalled 

 that this animal had suffered severely from the deficiency and responded with 

 only an incomplete recovery. The anaemia cannot, therefore, be regarded as 

 the characteristic lesion of vitamin A deficiency. Our observations indicate 

 that these occasional anaemias may follow an infection of the blood with 

 micro-organisms. 



