Diseases of the blood / by P. Ehrlich ... K. von Noorden ... A. Lazarus ... F. Pinkus ... ; ed. with additions by Alfred Stengel ; authorized translation from the German, under the editorial supervision of Alfred Stengel.

  • Alfred Stengel
Date:
1905
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Diseases of the blood / by P. Ehrlich ... K. von Noorden ... A. Lazarus ... F. Pinkus ... ; ed. with additions by Alfred Stengel ; authorized translation from the German, under the editorial supervision of Alfred Stengel. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

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    cells in a high altitude or destruction of these cells on returning to a lower level, such as would occur if there were active destruction of cor- puscles. His conclusion is that the theory of Bunge, that the increase of corpuscles results from a contraction of the vascular channels, is correct. Campbell and Hoagland l found the number of erythrocytes increased about 50,000 for each 1000 feet of elevation. The pulse-rate keeps pace with the change in the blood, and they refer both alterations to the vasomotor disturbances resulting from reduced pressure. The lack of increase of hemoglobin corresponding to the increase in the number of corpuscles they think due to the fact that the preliminary increase in erythrocytes is only apparent. Later there are an actual increase in red cells and a corresponding increase in hemoglobin.—Ed.] On the other hand, Gaule,2 who found in aeronauts a marked in- crease in the red corpuscles to 8,800,000 at an elevation of 4600 meters, and a decrease in the hemoglobin, concludes that this is due to a new formation of red corpuscles, or at least is partly due to a new formation of red corpuscles and partly to an alteration of the old cells. On a second ascension he could demonstrate pictures of altered corpuscles such as are ordinarily observed in bone-marrow, in the embryo, and in certain diseased conditions. In addition to altitude the influence of the tropics on the composi- tion of the blood, especially the number of corpuscles, has been studied, and although the almost regularly pale appearance of Europeans in the tropics would point to alterations, Eykmann and Glogner found none. Here, too, mere changes in the distribution of the blood seem to play the principal role. Less reliance can be placed on the Thoma-Zeiss and allied counting methods in anemic than in normal blood, in which, generally speaking, all red blood-cells are of the same size and contain the same amount of hemoglobin. In anemia, as will be seen later, the red blood-corpuscles are very dissimilar. On the one hand, an impoverishment of hemo- globin is found ; on the other, very small forms which may pass unnoticed in the counting. Moreover, omitting these extreme forms, 1000 red corpuscles of anemic blood would by no means correspond in their physiologic capa- bility to an equal number from normal blood. It is therefore evident that the real value of the number of the red blood-corpuscles can not be estimated apart from the hemoglobinometric and histologic findings. 1 Amer. Jour. Med. Sci., 1901, cxxii., 6, p. 654. 2 Archiv.f. d. ges. Physiol., 1902, lxxxix., 3 u. 4, p. 119.
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