398 Proceedings of Royal Society of Edinburgh. [sess. 
blood conditions. No method based upon the assumption that the 
condition of the blood obtained from one part of the body can be 
regarded as an expression of its exact conditions throughout the 
whole system can, for the future, be regarded as of scientific value. 
The final part of this preliminary inquiry has been devoted to 
an attempt to ascertain whether the inhalation of oxygen has any 
beneficial effect upon cyanotic conditions. Up to the present time 
it must be confessed that no case which has been under my care 
has shown any effect upon the blood from the use of this method. 
Of the cases which have been so treated the following two may be 
taken as types of all the others. 
Case 3. — A miner, aged 39 years, has recently been under my 
care on account of chronic bronchitis, emphysema, and pulmonary 
collapse, with great displacement of the heart to the right side. 
He was deeply cyanosed and had clubbing of the fingers and 
arching of the nails. The heart was slightly enlarged, and two- 
thirds of its dulness lay to the right of the mid-sternal line. A 
tricuspid systolic murmur was present. The pulse was frequent, 
varying between 80 and 100, and was of low pressure. There were 
anasarca with great enlargement of the liver and considerable 
enlargement of the spleen, as well as albuminuria. On 20th October 
1902, the haemoglobin was 110 per cent., the red corpuscles 
numbered 6,400,000, and the white 12,500 per cubic millimetre. 
On the 26th, the haemoglobin was 112 per cent., the red corpuscles 
numbered 7,500,000, and the white 14,000 per cubic millimetre. 
On this date the inhalation of oxygen was begun, and on the 31st, 
five days later, the haemoglobin was 100 per cent., while the red 
and white corpuscles numbered respectively, 8,000,000 and 9960 
per cubic millimetre. 
Case 4. — A miner, aged 33 years, came under my care on account 
of mitral obstruction and incompetence. He suffered much from 
palpitation. His heart was slightly enlarged. There were pre- 
systolic and systolic mitral murmurs, and the pulse was of very 
low pressure with considerable irregularity. There were no changes 
in the respiratory system. The abdominal organs were unchanged 
and there was no albuminuria. The condition of the blood may be 
stated in tabular form as follows : — 
