FUNCTIONS 
6l 
ber of such nodes present. Warthin [33], who held that the formation 
of erythrocytes undoubtedly occurred in disease, also suggested a cyclical 
activity, and added that "the appearances (in disease in man) often sug- 
gest a transformation of adipose tissue into lymphoid tissue, and the pos- 
sibility of a physiological rotation of the two forms of tissue." v Schu- 
macher thought it possible that individual erythrocytes are formed in the 
sheep, but regarded such an origin as a very subsidiary one. He found 
phagocytosis by reticulum cells and a fragmentation of erythrocytes in 
the phagocytes in some nodes, but saw few pigment cells. An extracellu- 
lar fragmentation or degeneration of erythrocytes, as observed by Weid- 
enreich, is denied by v Schumacher, — a denial wholly at variance with 
my own observations. 
That the destruction of erythrocytes — both by extra- and intra- 
cellular disintegration and hemolysis — and the formation of leucocytes, 
occur within hemal nodes, is undoubted. That these processes vary extra- 
ordinarily in degree within different nodes of the same individual and 
species, as well as in those of different species, is also evident ; and while 
I fully realize that it is rather venturesome and often quite futile to draw 
conclusions regarding function from a purely morphological basis, yet it 
seems to me that the supposed function of "blood destruction" has been 
wholly over-emphasized. Moreover, it might pertinently be suggested 
that it is, after all, not "blood destruction," but mainly destruction of 
erythrocytes, which is apparently so prominent a characteristic of some 
hemal nodes. Nevertheless, since so many hemal nodes contain so very 
little blood, even when practically entirely depleted of lymphatic tissue, 
it is highly improbable that destruction of erythrocytes is the chief or 
even as important a function of hemal nodes as would seem to be the case 
upon cursory examination. For even if destruction of erythrocytes, be it 
by phagocytosis or by erythrolysis associated or unassociated by cytor- 
rhexis, is the chief function of hemal nodes, it is evident, of course, that 
these processes must in all probability be due, and solely due, to some 
activity on part of the parenchyma of the hemal node. Hence even if 
this destruction within the node were due in part to the production of 
some lysin, one might reasonably expect the quantity of lymphatic tissue 
to be considerable, or proliferation of lymphocytes most active, in nodes 
containing comparatively large quantities of blood. This is, however, 
not the case ; for, as is evident, the quantity of lymphatic tissue must of 
necessity vary inversely with the quantity of contained blood, and it is 
only rarely that many follicles are found in depleted nodes or in any hemal 
node which contains much blood. And even when this is the case and rapid 
proliferation of lymphocytes occurs, this very activity would then defeat 
