Action of certain Reagents upon Coloured Blood- Corpuscles. 123 



Ammonium Hydrate. 



On irrigation of a drop of blood with a 12 per cent, solution 

 of ammonium hydrate the corpuscles became spherical, and at the 

 same time darkened in colour. The nuclei could not be seen dis- 

 tinctly, but appeared to have undergone the same change of shape as 

 the corpuscles. Very soon the corpuscles suddenly collapsed, and they 

 and their nuclei disappeared from view entirely. Sometimes, instead 

 of collapsing, the corpuscles suddenly expanded, appearing to burst, 

 and then melted away. The expansion was accompanied with a slight 

 recoil or jerk. The solution of the corpuscles was sometimes more 

 gradual, this depending, however, on the strength of the solution used. 

 A 2 per cent, solution causes a more gradual solution of the cor- 

 puscles. 



The effects of ammonium hydrate and the alkalies generally have 

 been investigated very frequently, and solutions much weaker than 

 we have employed have been used. Dr. William Addison* describes 

 and figures what he called the acid and alkaline forms of human blood, 

 while Kneuttingerf has shown that " alkalies as a general rule, when 

 in a state of moderate concentration, exert a solvent action on all the 

 constituents of the blood-corpuscles, including the nuclei." A solution 

 of '1 grm. in 100 cub. centims. is quite sufficient for this purpose. 

 There is, therefore, nothing remarkable in a much stronger solution 

 rapidly producing the same effect, but what we have found is that 

 some time after complete solution of the corpuscles has occurred, 

 small microscopic crystals are to be found scattered over the field of 

 view. If such a preparation be sealed up the crystals gradually grow 

 and assume a considerable, although still microscopic, size. In some 

 cases these crystals are coloured of a slightly yellowish tint. Some are 

 prismatic, whilst others are like two triangles placed with their 

 obtuse angles towards each other. They resemble very closely in 

 shape some of the forms of triple phosphate which are found in urine 

 after decomposition of the urea has set in. At present we are 

 unacquainted with their exact nature. 



A very careful description of the action of the vapour of ammonia 

 is given by Professor Lankester in his paper already cited, and it is 

 curious to note that Professor Lankester saw particles separate from 

 the haemoglobin of frog's corpuscles, and "in these it was quite easy 



by carbolic acid, when the urine has a dark smoky tint from the presence of 

 altered haemoglobin ; Huls, under Landois' direction, also found that carbolic acid 

 caused a separation of the hsemoglobin from the stroma. " Lehrbuch der Physio- 

 logic," 3rd edition, by Landois. January 10th, 1883. 



* " Quart. Journ. of Mic. Sc.," N.S., vol. i, p. 20, and " Proc. Koy. Soc," vol. 10, 

 p. 186. 



f " Zur Histologic des Blutes." Wurzburg, 1865. (Strieker's "Histology," 

 vol. i, p. 398.) 



