Volume 1

A text-book of human physiology : including histology and microscopical anatomy with special reference to the requirements of practical medicine / by L. Landois ; translated from the seventh German edition with additions by William Stirling.

  • Landois, L. (Leonard), 1837-1902. Lehrbuch der Physiologie des Menschen. English
Date:
1891
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A text-book of human physiology : including histology and microscopical anatomy with special reference to the requirements of practical medicine / by L. Landois ; translated from the seventh German edition with additions by William Stirling. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    species. If the normal quantity of blood be increased 83 per cent, no abnormal condition occurs, because the blood-pressure is not permanently raised. The excess of blood is accommo- dated in the greatly distended capillaries, which may be sti etched beyond their normal elasticity. If it be increased to 150 per cent, there are variations in the blood-pressure, life is endangered, and there may be sudden rupture of blood-vessels ( Worm Müller). Fate of Transfused Blood.—After the transfusion of blood the formation of lymph is greatly increased; but in one or two days the seruui is used up, the water is excreted chiefly by the urine, and the albumin is partly changed into urea. Hence, the blood at this time appears to be relatively richer in blood-corpuscles (Panuon, Lesser, Worm Müller). The red corpuscles break up much more slowlj'-, and the products thereof are ]>artly excreted as urea and parti}' (but not constantly) as bile-pigments. Even after a month an increase of coloured blood- corpuscles has been observed (Tschirjew). That the blood-corpuscles are broken up slowly in the economy is proved by the fact, that the amount of urea is much larger when the same quan- tity of blood is swallowed by the animal than when an equal amount is transfused {Tschirjexo, Landois). In the latter case there is a moderate increase of the urea, lasting for days, a proof of the slow decomposition of the red corj)uscles. Pronounced over-filling of the vessels causes loss of appetite and a tendency to htemorrhage of the mucous membranes. (2) Polyaemia serosa is that condition in which the amount of serum, i.e., the amount of water in the blood, is increased. This may be produced artificially by the transfusion of blood- serum from the same species. The water is soon given ofl' in the urine, and the albumin is decomposed into urea, without, however, passing into the urine. An animal forms more urea in a short time from a quantity of transfused serum than from the same quantity of blood, a proof that the blood-corpuscles lemain longer undecon)posed than the serum {Forster, Landois). If serum from another species of animal be used {e.g., dog's serum transfused into a rabbit), the blood-corpuscles of the recipient are dissolved ; htemoglobinuria is produced {Ponfick) ; and if there be general dissolution of the corpuscles, death may occur {Landois). (3) Polyaemia aquosa is a simple increase of the water of the blood, and occurs temporarily after copious drinking, but increased diuresis soon restores the normal condition. Diseases of the kidneys, which destroy their secreting parenchyma, produce this condition, and often also general dropsy, owing to the passage of water into the tissues. Ligature of the ureter produces a v/atery condition of the blood. (4) Plethora polycythsemica, Hyperglobulie.—An increase of the red corpuscles has been assumed to occur when periodically recurring litemorrhages are interru[)ted, e.g., menstruation, bleeding from the nose, &c. ; but the increase of corpuscles has not been definitely proved. Tiiere is a proved case of temporary polycythccmia, viz., when similar blood is transfused, a part of the fluid being used up, while the corpuscles remain unchanged for a considerable time. There is a remarkable increase in the number of blood-corpuscles (to 8'82 nnllions ]ier cubic millimetre) in certain severe cardiac affections where there is great congestion, and nmch Avater transudes through the vessels. In cases of hemiplegia, for the same reason, the number of corpuscles is greater on the paralysed congested side {Fensoldt). After diarrhoea, which dimin- ishes the water of the blood, there is also an increase {Brouardel), and the same is the case after profuse sweating and polyuria. Drugs (alcohol, chloral, amyl nitrite) which act on the blood- vessels affect the number of corpuscles ; during contraction of the blood-vessels their number increases, during dilatation they diminish in number {Andreesen). There is a temporary increase in the hsematoblasts as a reparative process after severe haemorrhage (§ 7), or after acute diseases. In cachectic conditions this increase continues, owing to the diminished non-conversion of these corpuscles into red corpuscles. In the last stages of cachexia the number diminishes more and more until the formation of hsematoblasts ceases {Rayem). (5) Plethora hyperalbuminosa is a term applied to the increase of albumins in the plasma, such as occurs after taking a large amount of food. A similar condition is produced by trans- fusing the serum of the same species, whereby, at the same time, the urea is increased. Injec- tion of egg-albumin produces albuminuria {Siokvis, Lehmann). [The subcutaneous injection of human blood has been practised with good results in annemia {v. Ziemssen). When defibrinated human blood is injected subcutaneously, while its passage into the circulation is aided by massage, it causes neither pain nor inflammation, but the blood of animals, and a solution of haemoglobin, always induce abscess {Benczur). Blood is also rapidly absorbed when injected in small amount into the respiiatory passages.] Mellitsemia.—The sugar in the blood is partly given off by the urine, and in diabetes mellitus 1 kilo. (22 lbs.) may be given off daily, when the quantity of urine may rise to 25 kilos. To replace this loss of grape-sugar a large amount of food and drink is required, whereby the urea may be increased threefold. The increased production of sugar causes an increased decomposition of albuminous tissues ; hence the urea is always increased, even though the supply of albumin be insufficient. The patient loses flesh ; all the glands, and even the testicles, atropliy or degenerate (pulmonary phthisis is common); the skin and bones become thinner; the nervous system holds out longest. The teeth become carious on account of tlie acid saliva, the crystalline lens becomes turbid from the amount of sugar in the fluid of the eye which extracts water from the lens, and wounds heal badly because of the abnormal condition of the blood.
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