62 
HEMOLYMPH NODES OF THE SHEEP 
the main object for which these nodes are supposed to exist — viz., blood 
destruction. For just in proportion as the hemal node became more able 
to destroy blood, less of the latter would be able to stay in the node, since 
the more lymphatic tissue there is, the less blood can be accommodated in 
the parenchyma of the node. And it is, of course, in the latter and not 
in the vascular current within the node, that the destruction of erythro- 
cytes is believed to occur. Then, too, it is probable that the volume of 
flow through the node increases, up to a certain point at least, when the 
node is undergoing depletion as a result of loss of lymphocytes by the 
blood stream, and undoubtedly also as a consequence of the exercise of 
the supposedly specific functions of the node in this connection. Conse- 
quently, the more rapid the flow and the larger the quantity of blood that 
can tarry within the node, the smaller the power of the node will be to 
perform the very task for which it is supposed to exist. That is, just in 
proportion as the need for the exercise of their function of blood destruc- 
tion increased, the nodes necessarily would become progressively less com- 
petent to fulfill it. Hence rapid self-destruction would seem to be the nec- 
essary result of the exercise of a supposedly normal physiological activity. 
To be sure, this is the ultimate fate of every organ and organism; but 
it seems unlikely that organs which apparently function for comparatively 
long periods of time, should be subjected to such rapid self-destruction 
when the need for their activity becomes greater. Since, moreover, the 
quantity of blood in some hemal nodes is so very insignificant, and since 
it is such an exceedingly variable one, and particularly since no signs 
whatever of destruction of erythrocytes can be noticed in many nodes, 
it is difficult indeed to regard such a function as the only or chief role 
that hemal nodes play in the economy of the organism. Hence for this 
and other more important reasons, the designation "hemolytic organs," 
suggested by Warthin, does not seem to be justified; and in view of the 
above facts it seems more probable to me that the formation of leucocytes 
of various types, rather than destruction of erythrocytes, is the chief func- 
tion of the hemal nodes. That eosinophils are formed in hemal nodes 
one can scarcely doubt, and the same is true of phagocytes. The largest 
of the latter, the polykaryocytes, and some megakaryocytes, could, to be 
sure, not easily leave the node because of their size, and probably seldom 
do so. Since these poly- and megakaryocytes, especially those of giant 
size, are so few, however, their activity, whatever it may be, is probably 
not a very important one, or at least not a very pronounced one. 
The supposition that formative rather than destructive processes pre- 
vail in hemal nodes also receives some support from the observations of 
