602 Prof. Macallum. Inoi'ganic Comjyosition of the [June 23, 



normal conditions, the products of change pass into circulation and are 

 gradually eliminated, either because they are assimilated elsewhere or 

 because they are excreted. There are undoubtedly other effects to be 

 taken into account but we reserve the discussion of these until we are able 

 to deal with them on an experimental basis. 



The Inorganic Comj^ositioii of the Blood in Vertebrates and 

 Invertebrates, and its Origin. 



By Prof. A. B. Macallum, Ph.D., Sc.D., F.R.S., of the University 



of Toronto. 



(Received June 23,— Read June 30, 1910.) 

 T. — Introduction. 



The first suggestion bearing on the origin of the inorganic composition of 

 the blood of animals was that made by Bunge,* who, pointing out that we 

 have inherited tlie notochord and the branchial clefts from marine ancestors, 

 asked why the high percentage of sodium chloride in our tissues should not 

 be an heirloom from life in the sea of that remote past. Eight years later 

 R. Quintonf enunciated the view that in the great majority of animal 

 organisms the internal medium, tlie circulatory fluid, or hajmolymph, is from 

 its inorganic composition l)ut sea water. In support of this he advanced 

 a number of facts bearing on the composition of the internal medium of 

 animals as compared with the composition of sea water, but the parallelism 

 was only in a few instances extended beyond the amounts of sodium 

 chloride in the two media. This view he unfortunately overlaid with a 

 numljer of speculations, some of which prejudiced its acceptance amongst 

 physiologists and biologists, and in consequence it did not attain the currency 

 to which it was entitled. 



In 190.'^, in discussing the inorganic composition of certain Medusae the 



])liyHi()l()giHtH witliout HiifltiriiiK iiiateriiil cliiiiigc ; if Jiowever, the solution bo Haturated 

 witli chloroform or ethor, tho tiHsuc breaks down very rapidly, the protein.s i)as.Miii>r into 

 Holiition. The only agent coiiiparabK^ in disintegrating etVect with chloi'oforni and etlier 

 Ih aniuionia, aeeording to Vernon. 



*'Lehrlni(h der I'liyHiologisclien nnd Pathologischen (,'Iieniic),' Lei])zig, 1889, 

 pp. 120 and 



t '(Joniptes UenduH Soe.de Biol.,' 18!)(;, I8!»7, 1898,18!)!). 'Cotnptes ]{enduM Acad. 

 Hei.,' vol. 131, pp. !)()") and !).'')2. Also " l/Kau dc Mer Milieu ()rgani(|ue," I'ariH, 1!)()4. 



